Wizards and Spirits
by Princess Aziza
Summary: Ginny, Sirius, and the Golden Trio escape to Japan to hide from Voldemort and to help Aziza reunite with her brother, the Nameless Pharaoh. They soon find out that Voldemort's not the only one who wants to take over the world. The darkness is spreading. It's time to fight.
1. Aziza

**Hello, everyone! Well, I put the poll up and only about 5 people responded to it! 5! Do you know how sad that is? Then again, I guess more then half of you weren't interested in my lame summary. Oh, well. I've got a name, and if you don't like it, TOUGH! **

**Note to everyone: EVENTUALLY, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Ishizu will be in the story. And Kaiba will wind up owing Kyra. *snickers* **

**Kaiba: Why? **

**Me: What? **

**Kaiba: Why will I wind up "owing her one" as you so eloquently put it? **

**Me: Wait and see. **

**Kaiba: *glares* **

**Me: *shrugs* Think about it. Who is the one person you care for more than anything? ;) **

**The first chapter is before third year in HP. Then it'll skip to fifth year in the HP world. Yu-Gi-Oh! cast will be in before the fifth chapter hopefully. If it's not, I'll let you know. **

**Thanks to Isana for giving me the idea for the Bracelet! And Lappalla for suggesting the name Kyra. **

**The Bracelet, the Earrings, the Belt, Aziza, Kyra and the storyline are _MINE_ (well, Kyra's sort of mine). Everything else that seems familiar IS. NOT. MINE! Got it? Good.

* * *

**

Ginny Weasley walked through the pyramid with the rest of the Weasley family. They had been in Egypt for almost three weeks, and were going back to England the next day. This was their last tour through a pyramid.

Bill was talking about some sort of trap the Egyptian wizards set to catch the tomb robbers, especially a particularly slippery one who was only known as the Thief King. He pointed to something on the wall. Ginny couldn't see behind Fred and George, so she walked around them to get a better look.

The room went black- so dark, in fact, that she couldn't see two inches in front of her.

"Fred, George, what did you do this time?" Mrs. Weasley called from the front of the group.

"Mum! Why must you assume it was us?"

"Maybe because most of the time it is you," Ginny said dryly. The twins gasped.

"Ginny!"

"How could you say such a thing-"

"-about your own brothers?"

"We're so hurt!" they finished together.

"Shut up, you two! _Lumos_." Charlie had pulled out his wand, but nothing happened.

"Okay, we have a problem."

"Like I told you, no magic can be used in the inner rooms." Bill sighed. "There should be a switch in here somewhere. Along one of the walls. Find it, and we can get out of here."

Everyone started running their hands along the wall.

"Ow! That was my foot!" Percy exclaimed.

"Sorry, I can't see," Charlie said.

"It's fine. Just watch where you step."

"How can I? It's pitch black in here!"

"Guys! Less arguing, more searching," Bill snapped.

"I found something!" Ginny called after ten long minutes of searching.

"Me, too!" Mrs. Weasley called from the opposite direction.

"Ginny, try yours first," Mr. Weasley said.

Ginny nodded and brushed her fingers along the small eye shaped handle. She yanked down and a door opened in the wall. A golden light blocked their view.

"You found it!" Percy said.

"There's only one exit out of here, why are there two switches?" Bill asked himself, moving toward his sister.

Ginny stepped forward until Bill flung his arm out, halting her.

"Bill?"

"We go in together," he said. She nodded. He stepped in first, with Ginny right on his heels. Ron made to follow them, but the door fell shut with a bang, making the floor shake. Their light cut off abruptly again.

"Ginny! Bill!" they all cried, their eyes trying to readjust to the darkness.

A flash of light caused them to close their eyes, and suddenly the heat of the Egyptian sun beat down on their backs.

Ron was the first whose eyes could open without being blinded. They were standing outside the pyramid. He turned around to face the rest of his family. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing in her husband's arms; he, along with Ron's other four brothers, were trying to calm her down.

"Mum, they're all right. I can tell you that right now," Charlie said. Their mother looked at him with tearful eyes.

"How can you be sure? What if they're hurt, or worse-"

Charlie cut her off before she could continue. "Bill is an expert an navigating these pyramids. And Ginny can take care of herself. If anyone can get out of the pyramid unharmed, they can."

* * *

Ginny clutched Bill's arm tightly when the door slammed shut. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know, Gin, but we will. I promise," Bill told her. She nodded and turned around.

"Bill," she breathed. He spun around and gasped in awe. The room had a thin walkway a few feet ahead of them leading to a square piece of floor about ten feet across, where a statue about Ginny's height of a man with spiky hair held two gold boxes in his lap. Each had the eye of Wdjat engraved in the center. On the wall next the statue was a carving; Bill couldn't get a good enough look at it.

"It's beautiful," he exclaimed. "But who's the statue of?"

Ginny was more interested in the boxes on the statue's lap. "Bill, what do you think is in there?"

She took a couple of steps forward until she reached the little walkway. She stepped on the first, then the second set of stones…

And the stone under her left foot collapsed.

Ginny shrieked and backed onto the right tile before she could fall. Bill leapt forward, but he was stopped by an invisible force.

_She has to do it on her own._

Bill looked wildly around. He could have sworn he heard someone.

"Bill?"

He looked at his little sister. "Keep going. You'll be all right. Get to the end and you'll be fine."

She nodded, and stepped forward. Her foot almost hit the right tile, but at the last moment she retracted her foot and stepped on the left one instead.

It was a wise choice on her part. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, realizing now this was a trap. She stepped forward, then onto the next right tile.

Bill relaxed as she reached the square with the statue. He looked on in confusion as Ginny put her left foot forward and kneeled before the statue before taking one of the boxes from its lap.

Ginny opened the box, and saw a beautiful pair of earrings. They were completely gold, short enough that they wouldn't get caught in her hair, but they weren't stud earrings. They each started off as a solid gold pearl-like earring, but were attached to a strange eye shape, similar to the one on the box. The only difference was the bottom of the earrings, which had a sort of J-shape on the left, and a curl on the right. **(A/N: Think Millennium Puzzle symbol.)**

Ginny carefully took them out of the box, one by one, and fastened them in her ears. There was a soft whooshing noise, and then everything went black.

Bill watched as Ginny's hair grew darker, until it was an auburn shade. It also seemed to shoot into her skull a few inches, so that it hung right under her shoulder blades. He noticed that, once she stood, she had grown about a head.

Princess Aziza inhaled the first real air she had smelled in Ra knows how long. She fingered one of the Earrings.

"I never thought I would wear these again."

_Well, you kind of stuck part of your soul in them._ Her friend's voice sounded like she was laughing.

Aziza smiled and looked at the statue in front of her. "Ha! I'm taller than him."

_One, it's a statue. Two, it's sitting down. _

"So? Take all the fun out of everything, why don't you?"

_Just get the Bracelet and put it on so we can get out of here._

Aziza rolled her eyes, but did what her friend asked. She opened the second box and took out a fine gold bracelet linked together. She attached it to her left wrist with the clip of the Eye of Wdjat, shaped exactly like the Necklace's Eye. It felt comforting to have it there once more.

_Okay, a little help here, please? _

"Do I have to?" Aziza pretended to whine.

_What would our siblings say if they could see us now?_

"They'd probably encourage this. I know my brother, at least, would want me to have fun once in my life."

Aziza moved away from the statue and walked to the carving on the wall. "Magician's Valkyria, I release you!"

A green light short from the image. A young woman with orange-red hair appeared. She wore a green and purple dress with pink underneath. She carried a weird scepter, almost claw-shaped. Her hat was tall and green, with a lighter green stone attached to what looked like a wing. Dark gold was threaded through her gloves, hat, and dress.

"I'm free!" she cried, hovering near the low ceiling.

Aziza laughed at her friend's antics. "Kyra, I know that!"

"Oh. Right." Kyra hovered closer to the floor. "Sorry."

Aziza turned and noticed Bill for the first time.

"Ginny?" Bill asked, though he highly doubted it.

Aziza tilted her head. "Kyra, why is he here?"

"He's Ginny's older brother. He came through the doorway with her."

Aziza closed her eyes and went to her Soul Room. She opened the door. "Ginny?"

The door opposite hers was cracked open, so Aziza knocked and pushed it open, but stayed in the hallway.

The girl was asleep on the bed. Her hair was a lighter red then Aziza's and slightly longer.

Ginny blinked. She was on a very comfortable bed, in a strange yet familiar room.

"Where am I?" she whispered, getting out of the bed. On the wall there were pictures of her family, Harry Potter, and her friends as well as posters of the Holy Harpies. There was also a broomstick against the wall, her wand and a Quaffle on top of the dresser, and more of her favorite things placed somewhere in the room. There was also a corner covered with shadows- Ginny knew instinctively that she didn't want to go over there.

"Your Soul Room," said a voice similar to her own.

Ginny whirled around, grabbing her wand and pointing it at the girl in the doorway. She looked almost exactly like her, except Ginny was a bit shorter and had lighter and longer hair. The girl had obsidian black eyes like Snape's, but hers were touched with a warmth Snape could never have.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Princess Aziza of Egypt."

"How did you get here?"

"I have a Soul Room, and you have a Soul Room. They're connected." Aziza waved her arm behind her. Sure enough, Ginny saw a corridor leading to a door with the same strange eye symbol that was on the earrings.

"What's a Soul Room?"

"It's what makes you who you are. Mind or spirit works as well. Now, I have a lot of explaining to do."

"You bet you do."

"All right. Can I come in?"

Ginny wondered if she could trust her; after all, only a few months ago she was being possessed by You-Know-Who.

Aziza tilted her head. "You can trust me. Who is You-Know-Who?"

Ginny's eyes almost popped out of her head. "How did you know about him?"

"Can I come in? It's going to take a while."

She nodded and lowered her wand, but still kept a tight grip on it. Aziza walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Okay, here's the deal. I am…what year is this?"

"2000."

Aziza raised an eyebrow. "A.D. or B.C.?"

"A.D."

"Okay, that makes it roughly five thousand years. Five thousand years ago, I was princess of Egypt. My brother was Pharaoh, even though he was only a year older than me. Our uncle made nine Millennium Items to bring peace over the land." Aziza sneered. "What a joke. It brought peace while we were children, but soon after I brother turned fifteen…" She shook her head sadly. Ginny sat next to her.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I'll tell you what you need to know. And all you need to know right now is that my brother sealed himself into his Millennium Item- the Puzzle- and sealed me into the Millennium Earrings because I was dying. He saved us."

"So, because you were sealed in the Earrings…" Ginny started, hoping she would continue.

"You passed the tests and put them on. Now you and I share the same body. We can communicate telepathically as long as you're not too far from the Earrings. The Bracelet shows you what one person is doing at the moment you're watching them and you feel their emotions. I'll tell you more later; right now, your brother's waiting."

Ginny gasped. "Bill!"

Aziza nodded. "Yes. Bill."

Ginny looked around. "How do I get out of here and back into my body?"

Aziza pursed her lips. "Good question. Try closing your eyes."

"_Try_?"

Aziza rolled her eyes. "I've never shared a body with someone before."

Ginny's eyes narrowed; a reflex.

"Do you trust me?"

_No. _

Aziza smiled. "You're going to have to, one day."

"Doesn't mean that day's today."

"Good point."

* * *

Bill watched as the girl who could be his sister's almost-identical twin shrank a head. Her hair lightened and grew a bit. Ginny opened her eyes and looked at Bill.

"Ginny! What happened?"

The strangely dressed girl the other one had called Kyra spoke. "Bill and Ginny, you can't tell anyone about this. Ever. Do you understand?" she asked seriously.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"People want what you're wearing. The less people that know about Aziza and the Items, the safer it is for everyone."

Bill and Ginny nodded.

She smiled. "Good. Now, one more thing."

A silver light formed from her scepter, enveloping her in it. The two Weasleys shielded their eyes. It imploded, then a card fluttered to the ground where Kyra had been moments ago. Ginny picked it up. It was Kyra, but the title said "Magician's Valkyria".

"Ginny?"

Ginny lifted her head and realized for the first time that she was still on the other side of the walkway. Strangely enough, it had repaired itself. She slipped the card in her pocket and crossed the pathway, not worrying about the traps- they weren't there anymore.

Bill hugged Ginny when she reached him again. There was a rumbling noise, and the door behind them opened. On the other side of the room, the platform that the statue stood on slid down into the floor, buried for the rest of eternity.

* * *

Fred looked around the corner, trying to see if Bill and Ginny were out yet. They were waiting in the first chamber, waiting for their eldest and youngest siblings to return. For some reason, they couldn't move forward.

Uncharacteristically, the twins were worried. This was supposed to be a vacation! Now two of the family went missing. It might not have been so bad if Ginny hadn't been taken into the Chamber at the end of last year. Fred still got shivers just thinking about it.

"Any sign?" Percy asked. Fred shook his head.

"Mum? Dad?" someone called from the end of the corridor.

"Bill?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, relieved and panicking again.

"Bill, this is stupid. Someone use _Lumos_!" Ginny called.

Bill, Mr. Weasley, and Charlie lit their wands. From the small amount of light they had, Ginny and Bill could tell everyone had been having flashbacks of last year.

Ginny was the first to reach them, closely followed by Bill. Mrs. Weasley pulled them both into a bear hug.

"What happened?" everyone asked at the same time.

"Mum…choking…" Bill choked.

"Can't…breathe…" Ginny wheezed.

Mrs. Weasley released them at once.

"We don't really know what happened. One second, we were walking through the door, and the next we were in the room and you weren't," Bill told them.

"We got sent outside," Ron told them. "Do you know how that happened?"

Bill shrugged. "The Ancient Egyptians were pretty smart. We haven't discovered all their spells and counter-measures yet."

"Can we get out of here? I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry," George said.

Ginny smiled. "Yes, let's just go. We're back safe, so you don't have to keep us on a leash for the next week."

The twins laughed lightly. They all left the pyramid together.

_Your family is nice. They love you, _Aziza thought to Ginny.

_Yeah. I'm lucky. Don't you remember your family? _

_Yeah. Most of it. _

_What was your brother's name? _Ginny asked, curious.

She sensed Aziza hang her head sadly. _I don't remember.

* * *

_

**Poor Aziza. She remembers just about everything- except her big brother's name.**

**Next chapter, we get to see the Bracelet in action! :) **

**Don't hound me for "update soon"s please! Homework sucks. Some of you are lucky because you get a longer holiday. I don't. Today was the end of my second week at school. And I have weekend homework. But I don't want sympathy. Knowing me, I'll leave it till Sunday night and rush through it, and get half of the problems wrong. **

**Just please leave me a review if you like it- despite the lame summary and the title (which I came up with on the spot. It can and may be changed).**

**3 ASHLEY**


	2. The Plans

**Hi people! Sorry for my absence. Net's still down, and I am now at the library. Plus, I only finished the chapter this morning. **

**Enough excuses- READ! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Kyra (somewhat) and the Bracelet, Earrings, and Belt (will show up soon).**

* * *

As Harry Potter told Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore about his very real dream, Ginny Weasley was awoken by Aziza shaking her shoulder.

_Ginny, wake up! _

Ginny blinked sleepily. _Five more minutes, Aziza. _

_Something's wrong! The Bracelet's glowing. _

That sent a shock through Ginny's system. She grabbed the Earrings and Bracelet- which was indeed glowing brightly- from her bedside table and closed the curtains around her. She hurriedly slipped the Earrings in and put the Bracelet on with the Eye of Wdjat facing the air in front of her. Aziza, in spirit form, sat directly across from her.

"Show me," the two of them whispered simultaneously. The eye glowed brighter, then a shadowy image projected out and hovered above the Bracelet. As the image came into view Ginny felt a sharp pain in quite a few places on her body.

The two of them gasped in horror at what the Bracelet revealed.

Mr. Weasley was lying on the ground somewhere, bleeding badly. It looked like he had been pierced by fangs.

"Where is he?" Ginny wondered, wincing at the pain her father must be feeling. Sure, she was feeling some of it, but it was very faint compared to the real deal.

"Show me more," Aziza commanded. The Bracelet complied. They could now see a few of his surroundings, but not too much. He was in a hallway, with little glass balls on shelves around him.

"Don't know. We'll find out later." Aziza swiped her hand through the image, which dissipated at her touch. The Bracelet stopped glowing. She looked Ginny in the eyes, black meeting brown. "We need to get your brothers."

Before they could do anything, though, the door to the dormitory opened and they froze. Aziza vanished and the Bracelet ceased glowing while the footsteps came closer and closer.

"Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall whispered from the other side.

_Act like you were asleep, _Aziza suggested. Ginny complied, rubbing her eyes sleepily and pulling the curtain open.

"Professor? What's wrong?"

"Your father's been hurt. Your brothers will be joining us in the common room," she said softly.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"We don't know yet."

Ginny stuffed herself into her bathrobe, grabbed her wand and her deck from her dresser drawer, and rushed silently after her as she left the room. Fred and George were waiting in the common room. They looked pale.

"Professor, what exactly happened to Dad?" George asked as she swept past them and out of the portrait hole, gesturing at them to follow. Ginny hid her deck in her bathrobe pocket.

"Mr. Potter saw your father being attacked. The Headmaster will explain the rest."

It was silent for the rest of the walk. It felt like eternity to the three- four, counting Aziza, who was just as worried as Ginny- to reach the statue outside Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall muttered the password, and the statue moved aside. The four of them hurried up the staircase, then they were inside Dumbledore's office. Harry stood by the large desk; Ron was sitting in a chair.

"What happened? Professor McGonagall said you saw Dad being attacked-"

"Your father was doing something for the Order, and he was hurt. He has been taken to St. Mungo's," Dumbledore told them before Harry could speak.

_That doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet, _Ginny thought.

_They found him. He'll be fine. _

_Can you be sure of that, Aziza? _

_I just have to believe. _

"You five will be taking a Portkey to Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore continued. He picked up something from a gangly table and waved them all over. He tapped it with his wand, and it glowed blue for an instant. The Weasleys and Harry each put a finger to the small object and Dumbledore counted down.

"One…two…three."

Ginny felt the Portkey tug her from Hogwarts to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

Sirius Black was waiting for them when they landed in the living room.

"What happened? All I know is that Arthur was attacked and to wait here for you."

"Wouldn't we all like to know?" George asked,

"Harry?" Ginny asked.

Harry sighed. "I was dreaming about something really stupid, but then it changed- I was watching a snake slither around somewhere, and there was a figure on the floor. It moved, just as the snake was going to go right by it. It was your dad. The snake attacked him, and then…I woke up."

_He's lying, _Aziza and Ginny thought at the same time.

_Not completely, though, _Aziza continued.

_Just leaving something very important out of it, _Ginny finished.

"We have to go see him," Fred announced, heading for the door. George and Ginny were right on his heels.

"No, you're not!" Sirius grabbed Fred and George by the arms and held fast, even after they tried to throw them off. "Listen, you can't go! At least not until they tell Molly."

"What's the big deal?" Ginny said angrily. "It's our dad!"

"The _Prophet _is looking for any excuse to discredit Harry. What will they make of this- you barging in there and demanding to see your dad because he was brutally attacked by a snake. How do you know this? Harry Potter told us! How did he know this? He dreamt it." Sirius looked ready to bite their heads off if they didn't sit down. "I will not risk them taking my godson. Yes, Harry, I know you can take care of yourself," he added as Harry opened his mouth to protest, "but I made a promise to James and Lily- to keep you safe. I intend to keep that promise as best I can, being under lockdown here."

Ginny was almost ready to cry. "We could have heard it from someone else-"

"Like who?" Sirius asked impatiently. Aziza was getting angry. Nobody hurt Ginny, physically or otherwise, and got away with it.

_Aziza, don't, _Ginny begged. She wasn't too happy right now, being told what to do like a child, but she knew deep down that Sirius was right.

She walked away from the group and sat down in the chair by the fire. Sirius, after calming down, summoned them all Butterbeers. Ginny didn't touch hers, so she relinquished control to Aziza and went to her soul room. Aziza sipped hers and stared into the fire, comforting Ginny through the mind link.

* * *

It was very early in the morning, but none of them could sleep. Sirius asked half-heartedly, once, if they would like to go to bed. Aziza, Fred, and George each gave him a look that said, _Don't even think about it. _He didn't suggest it again.

A note from Mrs. Weasley had arrived my phoenix about five hours ago. She was at the hospital, waiting for news. Aziza, tired of waiting for news, and upset that she couldn't do more to comfort her now-sleeping other half, got up and walked into the kitchen, making sure none of the others followed her. She held the Millennium Bracelet out in front of her like a duelist would a Duel Disk.

"Show me Molly Weasley," she whispered, focusing on the Weasley matriarch. Her fiery red hair, her normally kind face smiling at her, her brown eyes shining with happiness at having the whole family together.

The shadowy image took shape, and Aziza felt a hint of relief flow through her, along with a mix of other emotions- but relief was the prominent one. Mrs. Weasley was slumped in a chair, her eyes glistening with tears, a soft smile on her lips. Aziza was able to grab a few details before she stood up and vanished- her hair was disheveled, her clothes wrinkled. There were shadows under her eyes.

_Ginny, _she thought excitedly down the link, effectively waking her up, _he's all right. _

Ginny sat straight up in her bed as she heard that. _Really? _

_I just looked. Your mom should be arriving soon, and you know that once everyone starts worrying about your dad they'll realize that I'm not you. They'll start asking questions, and I'd rather not have them know about me yet. _

_I don't get why you don't call my family your family, too, _Ginny thought giddily, even though they had this conversation before.

_Because I have my own family- my brother. He's in Japan, and I can't exactly book the next Portkey to another country. How many times have you tried to find a way to get there, again? _They swapped places, so it was Ginny walking back into the living room. She had to work hard to keep the smile off her face as she sat down again.

_Several times a year, but every time ends the same. _Aziza sighed, frustrated. _I can't get away long enough to hail the Knight Bus, and I can't do a Portkey without risking disaster. I doubt his fireplace is hooked up to the Floo Network. Flying's out of the question, and nobody will Apparrate with me without asking a billion questions. _

The door opened. Mrs. Weasley walked in, looking almost exactly like she did a few minutes ago- although she looked a little more presentable, but her hair was still a mess. The dark shadows were still there, but Aziza was sure they would go away in time.

Everyone looked up.

"He's going to be okay. He's sleeping now."

Fred and George let out a "phew" sound. Ron slumped in his chair and wiped at his eyes. Ginny embraced her mother. Harry's shoulders sagged in relief.

Sirius jumped up.

"Let's have some breakfast! Bacon, eggs and toast sound all right? Kreacher!" No answering crack. "Kreacher!" he called again. Still nothing. He sighed, giving up, and counted them before hurrying off to the kitchen. Ginny rushed off to help him, with Harry on her heels. Sadly for him, he got caught up in a Molly Weasley hug.

Aziza laughed to herself.

A few hours later the Millennium Bracelet glowed again, so Ginny slipped into the drawing room and whispered, "Show me." Then, as the image took shape, she pulled her hair over one shoulder and touched an Earring lightly. "Let me hear."

She didn't realize that Sirius was there.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Malfoy Manor, Voldemort sat at the head of the long table. Severus Snape was telling him of some unusual behaviors in one of his students recently (after Voldemort noticed it in his thoughts)- Ginny Weasley.

"Her hair seems darker, although it could be the lighting in the dungeons, and I have seen her bracelet- it has a strange eye, perhaps Egyptian. She seems more confident- like she is my equal, or I am beneath her."

"You think she could help get the prophecy?" Voldemort was intrigued. He had spent months trying to get hold of the prophecy, doing everything he could think of, short of walking in there himself. He was laying low, because the Ministry was refusing to believe that he was back. It worked for him, because he could strike at any time and they wouldn't know it. But the stupid Order of the Phoenix knew, and they were posting guards. Which made things more difficult to accomplish stealthily.

Snape nodded. Voldemort made his decision. Even if the girl was useless, Harry Potter would come and retrieve her- and he would get the prophecy for him.

"Bring her to me. Alive, and she is to be brought to me in one piece. Snape, go back to Hogwarts and await further instruction."

The Death Eaters grinned and Disapparrated.

* * *

Ginny dropped her hand from the Earring as if it had scalded her and swiped her hand through the smoky image in front of her, making it vanish.

_You know that Sirius saw the entire thing, right? _Aziza asked worriedly. Ginny looked around the room and saw that Sirius was indeed looking at the Bracelet in confusion.

"We can talk about this later," she said, hoping to sound authoritative, but he shook his head and blocked her only exit.

_Just tell him now, you're only going to delay the inevitable._

Ginny sighed; Aziza was right. She sat down on a chair.

Sirius, taking that as a signal to speak, asked, "What was that?"

Ginny raised her wrist. "The Millennium Bracelet." She pointed to her earlobes. "The Millennium Earrings." Aziza materialized out of the Earrings before Ginny could back down.

Sirius jumped slightly and his fingers twitched toward his pocket, but he didn't draw his wand. The first thing he noticed was that the girl looked remarkably like Ginny, only with darker hair and black eyes like Snape instead of brown. But they were warm, unlike his. And she was transparent, kind of like a ghost- only with color.

"I am Aziza, Princess of Egypt." The ghost girl spoke. Her voice was kind of like Ginny's, too.

"But there is no royalty in Egypt now," he said, confused.

"There was five thousand years ago, when Egypt was known as Khemet," she replied.

Sirius blinked. "So I'm talking to somebody who's over five thousand years old?"

"Pretty much," the two girls answered.

He exhaled. "Okay. I've seen a ton of stuff that other people wouldn't believe, so why should this be any different?"

Ginny grinned and turned to Aziza. "I think he took that pretty well, don't you?"

"Well, wait until we tell him everything and ask me after that." Aziza turned to Sirius. "Full story now, or a little at a time?"

"Uh, whole story please."

"Okay. But no interruptions until we're done, okay? Swear that you won't tell anyone anything that you hear in this room unless we tell you it's okay." She waited until he nodded before she began.

"Roughly five thousand years ago, my brother was crowned Pharaoh. He was only a year or so older than me. Our dad died when he was twelve. We were okay for a while, but when he was fifteen and I had just turned fourteen, the High Priests told my brother that I would have to get married soon. A warlord from a country across the sea was visiting, and he had…taken a liking to me." She grimaced. "He watched me and made sure that my brother or the High Priests weren't around when he cornered me. I told my brother and cousin, Seto, once it began- but since it was only my word against his, they couldn't do anything except increase my protection. I was now accompanied by two guards and my best friends, Mana and Kyra, when they weren't in lessons. They were practicing to be magicians- they were good, too, when they put their minds to it."

_Should we show him Kyra? _

Aziza thought it over for a second, then responded, _It would probably be best. _

Ginny took her deck out of her pocket. A couple of Christmases ago, Bill, Percy, and Charlie had pooled their money together and gotten her a dueling deck. They had noticed how she loved her one card, and how she stared longingly at the cards in a shop in Egypt before her second year.

She pulled Magician's Valkyria from the deck. Aziza waved her hand over it, and a spirit version of the Millennium Bracelet glowed, as did the card in Ginny's hand. A life size teen wearing a purple, green, and pink outfit appeared. She wielded a staff that resembled a claw.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked, looking around before she set eyes on Sirius. She raised her staff.

"Whoa, Kyra! It's all right. We just started telling him about everything." Kyra turned to Ginny with wide eyes. "He saw me using the Bracelet and Earrings." Her eyes returned to normal size, then she rolled them. Ginny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Anyway, Kyra, this is Sirius Black."

"Oh!" Kyra snapped her fingers. "The one who was falsely convicted of murder and escaped soon after you got the Items?"

"That's the one. Sirius, this is Kyra."

Sirius watched Kyra warily as she lowered her staff but kept a firm grip on it. "Hi."

"Okay, so why'd you call me?" Kyra asked, turning to Aziza.

"Because I was explaining about the warlord my brother sent to the Shadow Realm. Now, after my guard was increased, he couldn't do much. So he waited and bided his time." Aziza breathed in slowly. "The morning he was due to leave, he had one of servants bring me perfume and jewels. I sent the servant away, and then I heard a strangled cry. The servant had a knife up his sleeve, and he stabbed one of the guards in the heart. The warlord hid around the corner and chopped off the other two guards' heads. Then he sent the servant away and invited himself in my room."

"Good thing Mana and I were coming to visit you," Kyra grumbled. "I don't even want to think of what would have happened if we hadn't."

Ginny and Sirius shivered. Kyra picked up the story.

"Mana sent me to fetch the Pharaoh and the High Priests. I ran as fast as I could, and met Isis halfway. The others were following, confused. Pharaoh took one look at my face and raced to Aziza's room. The rest of us were right behind him."

"Mana froze the servant, and crept in the room behind the warlord. He was threatening me, saying he would kill everyone and kidnap me to be his concubine. Mana went to hit him, but he split her staff in two and grabbed her around the neck. He told me to go with him or she would die." Aziza bit her lip.

"We heard everything." Kyra grinned mischievously. "His Highness looked ready to kill. Mahad used his magic to freeze the servant again and the warlord's body from the neck down. Mana was trapped between the sword and the warlord, but I was so mad that the bastard would try to kill my sister that I turned the sword to dust."

"And Mana broke his fingers to get them off her neck! He screamed like a girl." Aziza remembered. "Seto wanted to do more physical harm, but my brother decided to teach him a more permanent lesson. He challenged the warlord to a Shadow Game. He won."

"Well, doesn't he always?" Ginny quipped.

"So they loaded the warlord onto his ship, after Shada wiped the servant's memory, and the ship set sail- if anybody asked, the bastard fell ill on the way home," Kyra finished. "That way, the son couldn't declare war on us."

"What's the point of telling me that story?" Sirius asked.

"Because that was the only trouble we had until the year we died. I remember very little of that time, except a few things. Mahad fused with Illusion Magician, his spirit monster, and was trapped in a tablet. The Millennium Ring was stolen. A man with white hair called himself the Thief King, but his real name was Bakura. He raided Father's tomb and caused all of the misery. Isis and Karim died. Seto met a girl who died and became his spirit monster like Kyra became mine. The palace was attacked. I was dying; my brother sealed me in the Millennium Earrings. Other than that, all I remember is darkness." Aziza shivered.

"What's the Shadow Realm?" Sirius changed the topic, hoping to get her mind off the bad memories.

"It's where our monsters sleep and where souls go when they're banished by a Millennium Item wielder. It has a mind of its own, but it's on another plane of existence. Very few people can summon it anymore. A Shadow Game is a game played in the Shadow Realm. If you play in there, you had better win; most of the time, the consequences are severe," Kyra said.

"Okay. Let me process all this, and-"

A phoenix Patronus materialized in the room. It spoke with Professor Dumbledore's voice.

"Emergency meeting." The Patronus faded.

Sirius rose. "You need to get upstairs. Molly will be taking the others up there."

"I have a feeling I know what it's about- and we should be there," Aziza said, fading back into the Earrings. Kyra disappeared. Ginny stood up.

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, coming downstairs, "go find Hermione and stay with her until the meeting's done with."

"Mum, I need to be there."

"No!" Mrs. Weasley glared at Ginny so fiercely that the younger redhead didn't argue further, but went upstairs.

_I'll see that meeting, one way or another._

She slid into a room across from the one the twins, Ron, and Harry occupied. Making sure no one was there, she touched an Earring and held the Bracelet in front of her. "Show me the Order of the Phoenix meeting downstairs. Let me hear."

* * *

"The Dark Lord plans to use Miss Weasley to get the prophecy. Even if she is incapable of doing so, she will be bait to lure Potter to the Department of Mysteries and retrieve the prophecy," Snape told them. Tonks, Remus, Molly, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Bill and Sirius listened to his report.

"No way! If he even thinks he's going to lay a hand on my daughter, he can think again!" Molly cried, rising and pacing the room. Her face was red with anger, her eyes filled with fear.

"Molly, we're not going to let that happen," Dumbledore assured her.

"Why does he think Ginny can get the prophecy?" Remus asked.

"I told him that she seems to change sometimes. And that bracelet she wears looks Egyptian. He somehow thinks she is capable of getting the prophecy because of that."

They could switch bodies? Sirius didn't know that. But he shouldn't be surprised, he thought.

"I got her that bracelet before her second year, when the family came down to visit me in Egypt," Bill said.

"We need to hide Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said. "Somewhere Voldemort cannot find her." Kingsley, Tonks, Molly, and McGonagall flinched at the name.

"Here?" Tonks suggested.

Sirius, lonely as he might be here, would not want to force anyone else to live here. "We already have one person hiding from the law here- me."

"Why not let her go visit Charlie in Romania, or see if some of my friends in Egypt will watch her?" Bill suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, getting her out of the country," McGonagall approved. "But he could think of those places, since he might know you worked in Egypt and Charlie works in Romania."

Remus held up a hand for silence. A bell-like noise filled the room. "Someone's coming."

The door opened. "Here's an idea! Let me choose."

"Ginny!" Molly jumped up, furious. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough."

"Go back upstairs right now, young lady!"

Aziza tilted her head. "I don't think so. You want to send me into hiding."

"How did you hear that?" McGonagall asked, shaken. "We would have heard you coming."

"Well, the bell idea was great, but when you can listen from upstairs…" Aziza grinned, unrepentant.

_Aziza, please don't give my mother an aneurysm, _Ginny begged.

_All right, Ginny, relax. _

"How. Did. You. Hear. Us?" Snape hissed.

Aziza looked directly into his eyes. "Hello, Severus." Snape looked furious.

"How dare you speak to me that way! I am your teacher, not a student like you!"

Aziza ignored him and went to stand behind Bill and Sirius. "Hello, Bill. Long time, no see."

"Hi, Aziza," he whispered.

"Say that for everyone to hear, please," Aziza requested. Bill looked thunderstruck.

_Aziza! What are you doing? Shouldn't we be keeping you a secret?_

_Ginny, trust me. They don't need to know about the Millennium Items; they just need to know that you share a body with me. _

_Oh, I see where you're going with this. Smart. _

_Thank you. _

"Hi, Aziza," Sirius said in a normal tone. He was confused as to why Aziza would reveal herself after she'd told him not to tell anybody anything she and Kyra told him, but he trusted her. After all, she was five thousand years old.

"Sirius, are you crazy? That's Ginny Weasley," Tonks said slowly.

"Not quite, Tonks. That's what we've led you to believe. Two and a half years ago, while the Weasleys were visiting Egypt, Ginny opened my tomb for the first time in five thousand years. Bill was with her; you can ask him."

"We were trying to find you," Molly whispered. "We got out of the pyramid, but we didn't know how. You were still in there."

Aziza nodded. "Your daughter met me, and became my vessel. I am Aziza, former princess of what is now Egypt."

Molly whipped her wand out and pointed it at Aziza. "Where's my daughter?"

"Mum!" Bill jumped up.

"Bill, it's fine." Aziza put her hand on his arm. She switched places in front of everyone. The Order members saw her grow an inch or so, her eyes get lighter, and her hair lighten and lengthen.

"So she's a spirit, sharing your body?" Tonks asked.

Ginny nodded. "She's a little dramatic."

_Ginny! I am not! _Aziza huffed, offended.

_Yes, you are. Everyone here would agree, because of that little trick you just pulled. _

_Oh, shut up. _

"So kind of like how Sirius used to be, then," Remus said.

Ginny shrugged, but McGonagall and Dumbledore nodded. Sirius smiled a bit sadly. Snape just scowled.

_Tell them that we're switching bodies again, _Aziza warned.

"We're switching so I don't have to relay her words," Ginny said before letting Aziza take over again and going to sit in her Soul Room.

Aziza looked around the room. "Here's the deal. You want to send Ginny and Harry into hiding. I need to get to Japan. So, send us to Japan. Ginny and Harry have no reason to go there; why should Voldemort think they'd be in Japan? It's safe for us to use magic, there. You have to be sixteen to use magic without a permit; fourteen with a permit."

"They give magical permits in Japan?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes."

"How long have you been wanting to go to Japan?" Molly, who had been remarkably quiet up to that point, asked suspiciously.

"Ever since Ginny's second year."

"So you've been planning on running away to Japan for some time," she sighed, wilting in her chair.

Aziza shook her head. "No, Molly, that's not it. I was waiting until someone could take me; now's as good a time as any."

"Why Japan?" Dumbledore asked. "Why not America or Germany or China?"

"Because I know there will be people there who would help me and be able to protect themselves at the same time, should someone come looking for us. Unlikely, but not impossible. I also think Hermione, Ron, and Sirius should accompany us."

Sirius looked at the former princess, shocked. "Why?"

Aziza smiled at him. "Why bring Hermione and Ron, or why bring you?" "Why bring me? Why not Remus?"

"Because you're trapped in this house, and if you aren't out of here soon, something's going to happen and you'll go running to Harry's rescue and you could get hurt, or even die. We don't want that, Sirius. And you could help us out in Japan more; I don't think news of your Azkaban escape reached the public there. Plus, we'd need someone to watch out for us. We can't go alone."

"And Hermione and Ron need to go because they could be lured into a trap just as easily as anyone else, but they're Harry's best friends," Remus added.

Aziza nodded. "You would be at risk, too, but not as much. Voldemort doesn't know how close you are to Harry."

"Go get Harry and Ron; we need to talk with them about this. Miss Granger can join you after a week or two," Dumbledore said.

"First, we need to see if they all agree with this," Kingsley said.

"They will," Aziza said confidently.

* * *

**Hope you like it! **

**ASHLEY**


	3. Japan

**HI everyone! **

**Ginny: Where have you been? **

**Me: Don't ask. Be glad I'm updating. **

**Aziza: I can still send you to the Shadow Realm. **

**Hermione, Harry, Ron: The _what? _**

**Ginny and Aziza: Uhh...**

**Me: *smirks* In due time, folks. **

**I only own Aziza, Kyra (sort of), and the Millennium Earrings, Bracelet, and Belt (coming up soon!). So don't shoot me, or accuse me of stealing, or anything else. **

**Kyra: Like sending you to the Shadow Realm? **

**Me: *shivers* Yeah.**

* * *

Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were next to the stairs, wondering if they should try to sneak in the kitchen when the door opened and Ginny's head popped out.

"Harry, Ron, you guys can come in now," she said. The four of them looked at each other suspiciously.

"How'd you know we were out here?" Ron asked.

Ginny scoffed. "Please. I know you guys would try to eavesdrop. Now, come on. It's important."

"What about us?" the twins protested.

Ginny sighed. _Bring them or not?_

_Bring them. They'll find out anyway. Then we can send them out and modify Snape's memory._

"Come on," she said reluctantly.

Harry, Ron, George, and Fred followed Ginny into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Harry asked the room at large. His eyes narrowed when he saw Snape and didn't even try to look at Dumbledore. Ginny wondered why that was.

"Why could Ginny come in when you told us to stay out?" Ron grumbled.

"Because I could."

"Very specific," George said, rolling his eyes.

"Ginny came in during the meeting and brought up a very good idea," Remus said.

"How'd you know what they were talking about?" Fred asked, amazed.

"And will you show us how?" George added.

_Aziza? _

_Sure. They need to know. _

Aziza and Ginny swapped places. Aziza took out her wand and twirled it in her fingers. "I have my ways."

Harry's wand whipped out. With a snap of her fingers, Aziza Disarmed him.

"Harry, why'd you do that?" She clicked her tongue, catching the wand that flew toward her.

"Aziza," Bill warned.

"I'm going to have to get used to that," Professor McGonagall whispered. How had a student- a Gryffindor, no less!- been sharing her body with a spirit without anyone knowing?

Mrs. Weasley and Remus nodded.

"Who-"

Aziza picked Ginny's wand out of her pocket and Disarmed Fred, George, and Ron so fast they didn't have time to blink. She handed all five wands she held to Kingsley.

"No fighting, boys. Now, as I was saying, I am the reason Ginny knew what was going on. And George wanted to see, so I showed you."

Ginny's incorporeal form shimmered next to Aziza. Everyone looked shocked, save Bill and Sirius.

"How can we see Ginny if she's like a ghost?" Tonks asked, nonplused.

"I knew we were forgetting something!" Ginny hit her forehead with her palm. "Well, wizards can see stuff Muggles can't, which means you can see me when Aziza has control of my body and I'm out of my body."

"You're _possessed?_" Harry cried. "Ginny, have you lost your mind?"

"Harry, relax. There's a reason why we haven't told anyone before you guys," Aziza said.

Bill cleared his throat.

"Bill's an exception. Do you three remember when we went to Egypt and Bill and I got trapped in the pyramid?" Ginny asked.

"And you thought it was our fault," George grumbled.

"That was when she met me. I know all about what happened with the diary, but that is not what's happening now."

Ginny shuddered. Aziza turned to her, frowning.

_Sorry. _

_It's fine. _

"So you've been living in our sister's body for the last two and a half years?" Fred asked. "And we're only finding out about this now?"

"Well, there was no reason for you to know!" Aziza protested.

"Who are you, anyway?" Ron asked.

"Aziza, princess of what is now Egypt. My brother became pharaoh when he was twelve."

"Your brother was king?" George asked, amazed. "How old was he when he died?"

"Well, he didn't really die. It's a long and sad story, but I had just turned sixteen, so he was…seventeen," Aziza said, doing some quick mental math, "when I became a spirit. We're getting off topic."

"Harry, Voldemort knows about Aziza and wants to kidnap us to use as bait if we can't get the weapon- a prophecy, as a matter of fact. It's in the Department of Mysteries," Ginny said quickly. "Anyway, we're in danger."

Aziza closed her eyes. "Harry, Ron, Ginny, Sirius, and Hermione are going into hiding in Japan." Her tone was bored, but it left no room for argument.

Harry-of course- protested right away. "I don't need to hide!" Then one of the names had him backtracking. "Wait,' Sirius would come with us?"

"Yes, he can come along. We need a wizard bodyguard, he'll be able to get out of this hellhole, and I'm pretty certain Japan doesn't know about Sirius Black, escaped mass murderer. He'll be safe there. Until after we meet with the Japanese Ministry, he'll have to stay as Padfoot. Then he can shift back."

"But I-"

"You being here will only put everyone in more danger, and I refuse to allow Ginny to be put in danger if I can avoid it," Aziza snapped, scowling.

_Aziza!_

Aziza was ashamed of herself. _I apologize, Ginny. I'm not enjoying the fact that they can't get it through their skulls that England is no longer safe. _

_I forgive you. But you're apologizing to Harry. _

"Low blow," Ron whispered as Harry's face fell.

"I apologize, Harry. But we are no longer safe here."

"It's all right; I understand. I'll go. But why Japan?"

"You'll see when we get there. Now, go pack. We're leaving as soon as we can." She rose from her chair and held out her hand for her wand. Kingsley gave it to her without a word.

"Mad-Eye, you've been awfully quiet," Tonks said, turning to her mentor. Her face drained of color. Mad-Eye was tied to his chair by what appeared to be thick black ropes, his mouth gagged. His eyes, both magical and normal, were wide and glaring accusingly at Ginny and Aziza.

"Mad-Eye?"

"Alastor?" Dumbledore asked. He tried to remove the gag. Aziza grabbed his wrist.

"Don't. I am the only one who can remove it."

"Well, then remove it!" Snape hissed.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Aziza, whoever you are, release him!"

Aziza waved her hand and the gag fell off. Mad-Eye tried to loosen the knots that held him, but they wouldn't budge.

"What did you do that for?" Mad-Eye growled.

"To make sure you didn't hurt me, and Ginny by association," Aziza answered calmly. "Now, if you're done struggling, I'll take the rest of them off."

Mad-Eye glowered at her, but he stopped moving around. With another flick of her wrist, the shadow ropes faded. Mad-Eye rose unsteadily and picked up his wand, pointing it at Aziza's heart. Ginny's eyes widened and she almost hissed in outrage.

"Don't even try it," Bill said softly. He had his wand pointed at Mad-Eye's good leg. "She didn't hurt you, even though she could have."

"Shouldn't we be packing?" Harry asked, trying to distract everyone.

"Yes," Remus said, rising and leaving the room with Sirius, Ron, and Harry.

_I'm taking over, _Ginny thought.

_No. _

_He won't hurt me! _

_You don't know that. _

_Please, Aziza. Bill's got his wand trained on him, and if he hurt me, Mum would go ballistic._

Aziza pursed her lips, thinking. Then she sighed. _Against my better judgment-_

_Thanks Aziza! _Ginny thought in relief as Aziza returned to the Earrings.

"Mad-Eye, she won't hurt anyone who is my friend. You would have overreacted and cursed someone, most likely us. Then you would not even be here. So, believe me when I tell you, she did it for everyone's good."

With that, Ginny spun and left the kitchen.

* * *

Tonks went to wait at King's Cross station for Hermione, so they had just enough time to visit Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo's before they had to collect their stuff from Grimmauld Place and leave the country. The group consisted of Harry, Bill, Ginny, Ron, the twins, and Mrs. Weasley. Mad-Eye stayed behind at Grimmauld Place. Remus stayed with Sirius to make sure they were all packed. Kingsley, Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall had to go back to work. Before Snape left, Aziza had erased Snape's memories of being at Grimmauld Place and put memories of him at Hogwarts in his head instead.

"Hey, Bill, when are you going back to Egypt?" Ron asked as they sat down on the Muggle train.

Bill bit his lip. "Monday."

"What do you do there? Ron told me you were a Curse-Breaker," Harry said, joining the conversation.

Ginny's lips twitched. Aziza scoffed in her soul room.

"Uh, actually, I don't. Not anymore."

Ron and the twins turned to their eldest brother in confusion. "Huh?"

"He doesn't bother trying to take down the defenses the Egyptians put up anymore," Ginny said flippantly.

"Why not?" Fred asked, eyes wide.

Ginny raised her eyebrows at her brother. "Aziza told him that if he did without getting permission from the proper people, she'd send him somewhere to teach him a lesson."

"But wouldn't that mean just contacting the Egyptian government?" Harry asked.

Ginny shook her head. "They'd like you to think that. But really, you have to get permission from the tomb keepers. And let me tell you, those people are really protective of the tombs they've been guarding for centuries. They were entrusted by the pharaohs themselves. Do you honestly expect them to give just _anyone _permission to enter the tombs? The fact that they live underground makes it easy for people to overlook them, but a sure way to get a tomb keeper mad is to go into a tomb under their protection and start taking stuff without their permission."

"So what do you do, if you aren't doing that anymore?" George asked.

"I help out at a bookshop."

"Who's watching the shop now?"

"A couple of other wizards who needed jobs. It's actually run by a family of tomb keepers- the Ishtars, I believe. But a while ago the woman who usually manages it went to participate in a tournament; she never told me where. She just said her king and her brother needed help."

Aziza's ears perked up at that bit of news. _Why didn't he tell us? _

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ginny relayed the message.

Bill shrugged. "I couldn't think of a way to tell you, since someone was checking letters."

Harry sat straight up in his seat, alarmed. "The D.A.!"

"Oh, no," the twins gasped. Ron groaned.

"Relax. Someone else will just have to teach them. Katie Bell-"

"Quidditch!" George said, biting his lower lip, a frown marring his forehead.

"That's right! Damn." She thought for a minute. "Tell Angelina that we left, it was unavoidable, and we're sorry. See if Lee Jordan will be Keeper-"

"He's not that good," Fred objected instantly.

"Well, risk it and train him, unless you want to forfeit the Quidditch Cup," she snapped. "Or find someone else. And we'll need a new Seeker, too. You guys can help her find one."

The train slowed. Bill looked up. "Our stop."

* * *

They got off the train and followed Bill and Mrs. Weasley to a store that was "closed for refurbishment", according to the sign. Mrs. Weasley walked up to the window, where a mannequin stood, and said, "We're here to see Arthur Weasley."

The mannequin turned its head and winked, then motioned for them to follow and disappeared.

_That was new, _Aziza thought.

_You'd think after all these years, you'd be used to a walking inanimate object, _Ginny snickered as she walked through the glass with everyone else.

_We didn't have mannequins in Khemet! _Aziza protested.

Ginny followed her brothers and Harry up to the front desk, where Mrs. Weasley was asking which room their dad was in. After the reception witch told her, the group traipsed up the stairs until they came to his ward. When Ginny entered, she sighed in relief as she saw her father propped up on several pillows, reading the _Daily Prophet. _He looked up when they entered, and grinned.

"Dad!" the twins cried softly.

"Hi, everyone!" Mr. Weasley said. Mrs. Weasley kissed his cheek.

"Dad, you had us worried," Bill told him, sitting on the edge of his bed.

Ginny hugged her father. "Hey, Dad."

After about an hour of discussing some trivial things, Ginny finally sighed.

_Tell him now?_

She felt Aziza nod on the other end of the link. _Yeah. Just let me do something real quick. _

The group around the bed glimpsed that a nearly invisible shield formed between them and the rest of the ward. Ginny turned to her father, who hadn't noticed anything.

"Dad, we're leaving."

He looked a little disappointed, but shrugged. "It's not like you don't have things to do."

"That's not what she meant," Harry said softly, speaking for the first time in a while. He scooted his chair closer to the bed so that only their group could hear him. "Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Padfoot and I are leaving later today. The others will explain in greater detail when you're out of here."

"Why?" Mr. Weasley asked, perplexed.

"Because it's not safe for us here," Ginny said. "If we stay, everyone's going to be even more at risk. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"Me neither," Harry whispered hoarsely.

"Harry, that wasn't your fault," George told him, understanding what he was thinking.

"Really, if anyone's to blame, it's the rat," Fred finished, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

_We should go, _Aziza thought. _The longer we stay, the greater the risk of someone encountering Mirror Force. Besides, Hermione should be getting off the Hogwarts Express soon, and we need to get our stuff and be on the bus when they pick her up._

Ginny nodded inwardly. "Guys, we should go. It's almost six-thirty. The train gets in at eight. We still have to go back and get our stuff."

"And I'm hungry!" Ron added as his stomach growled.

"We'll eat supper as soon as we get back," Mrs. Weasley promised. They all said their goodbyes to Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley shepherded them out of the room.

* * *

"Ready?" Aziza asked about an hour and a half later as Harry and Ron hoisted the bag each of them carried onto their shoulders, Padfoot next to them, tail waving happily. They nodded. Harry also carried Hedwig in her cage, and Aziza had both Ginny's and Sirius's stuff over her shoulder. Pig was staying with the other Weasleys. "Here we go."

Aziza flung out her right hand, and a huge purple triple-decker bus appeared next to them. A young man with pimples hopped off and started his recited speech. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for-"

"We get it. Can we get on now?" Aziza asked. She shoved the gold that Sirius had given her into the man's hand, enough for each of them, and they boarded the bus. Padfoot sat on the floor next to Harry's bed.

"It's 'Arry Potter!" the conductor, Stan Shunpike, cried.

"Yes, we know. Can we just go?" Harry sighed.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Can we stay on till our friend boards? Then we'll tell you," Aziza said.

The driver and Stan looked at each other, then the driver shrugged.

"Thanks."

The Knight Bus took off again, and the three of them had to pick themselves up off the floor whenever the bus stopped or started. Hedwig, who was finally out of her cage, flew whenever she could to avoid being knocked into. Finally, they arrived at King's Cross Station and Hermione boarded carrying a bag that she must have packed in a rush in one hand and Crookshanks in his wicker basket in the other. She paid Stan and sat next to Aziza.

"Japanese Ministry, please," Aziza told Stan. "Don't ask."

Stan, who had his mouth open, had to shut it rapidly as Ern, the driver, drove the bus out of the country. Aziza lost track of time, but eventually they arrived at the Japanese Ministry of Magic Visitor's Entrance in one piece.

"Bye," Harry called to Stan and Ern.

Ginny and Aziza switched places before they entered the building. They were greeted by a few Japanese Aurors, who entered Ginny, Harry, and Ron into a magical computer along with their wand information. That way, one male Auror explained in perfect English, they wouldn't get in trouble for using magic while being underage.

"Do you know where I could find someone that people call the Duel Monsters Champion?" Ginny asked softly as she was entered into the computer.

The female Auror entering the information looked sharply at her. "Why do you want to know?"

Ginny pulled out her deck and held them up for the Auror to see. "I want to challenge him. I've been in quite a few tournaments, and I think I'm ready to go up against the Champion himself," she lied.

"Well, my brother is really into Duel Monsters, and he said the Dueling champion, Yugi Muto, lives in Domino City."

"Could we take a Portkey there?"

She nodded and called another Auror over. He tapped an empty coffee mug with his wand. It glowed blue for a moment, and Ginny took the opportunity to put her deck back in place. Hermione looked at her quizzically. Ginny shook her head a little, mouthing, '_Later_'. Ron's eyebrows were raised. Harry shrugged. They all placed a finger or two (in Padfoot's case, his snout) on the mug and waited.

"Have a good time in Japan. And good luck!" the Auror said as they were jerked from the Japanese Ministry. Hedwig screeched and Crookshanks hissed when they landed in an abandoned house. Hermione and Harry let them out of their respective cages, and Crookshanks landed in Ginny's arms while Hedwig found a nice perch on a bed frame. Ron put his bags over by the bed frame, and everyone followed suit.

Hermione almost immediately fished some parchment out of one of the bags, tore it into five strips, then Transfigured the pieces of parchment into silver bracelets for her and Ginny and black wristbands for the guys. Then she waved her wand over them and muttered a spell. A purple light struck each bracelet or wristband, then faded.

"Translation Charms," she explained in response to the raised eyebrows she received from Harry and Ron. Sirius changed back and pulled his wand out of his bag. He had cut his hair so that it went from hanging near his shoulder blades to just below his shoulders. He didn't like it, but he understood the necessity. Harry tossed him his wristband and the guys put theirs on. Sirius handed a bracelet to Ginny, who put it on her right wrist.

"Ginny, why did you tell the Auror that you were looking to duel that Muto guy?" Ron asked, .

"Duel Monsters, Ron, is a popular Muggle game here in Japan. Yugi Muto is capable of helping us here." She yawned.

_You should go to bed, Ginny. It's five-thirty. _

"We should get to bed," Sirius said, as if he could hear Aziza. He waved his wand and five sleeping bags appeared.

"Wait, shouldn't we tell Hermione about Aziza?" Ron asked.

Hermione's head spun around. "Who?"

"Ancient Egyptian princess, shares a body with Ginny, can _switch _bodies with Ginny, has control of a magic that we don't, and can somehow eavesdrop on conversations miles away," Harry summed up.

"Yep, that's about it," Aziza agreed, coming out of the Bracelet. She waved at Hermione, who had started at the sound of a new voice. Crookshanks purred and tried to rub his head against her hand.

"Later, please. I need sleep," Ginny groaned. Aziza laughed softly and went to her Soul Room to sleep. The others dozed off quickly.

None of them noticed the Millennium Bracelet glow.

* * *

Bellatrix Lestrange looked over at the driver of the Knight Bus. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am. Dropped them off at the Japanese Ministry myself."

Bellatrix grinned nastily. "Perfect. Dismissed." The Imperiused driver Apparrated out of the house. She was about to call her brother-in-law, but thought better of it.

"Avery! Nott! Mulciber! Goyle! Crabbe! Amycus! Alecto! Yaxley! Rowle! Greyback!"

The Death Eaters and werewolf Apparrated into the sitting room. "Yes?"

"I found the Potter brat and the two youngest Weasley scum. They're accompanied by a black dog, and the Mudblood." She cackled.

"Where are they?" Alecto asked, grinning.

Bellatrix smirked. "They were last seen at the Japanese Ministry of Magic."

Amycus made to pull up his left sleeve, but Bellatrix screeched for him to stop.

"If they are not there, then we need to figure out where they have gone! It will do no good for us to summon the Dark Lord if they aren't there!"

"We get there, torture the Aurors into telling us-"

"Fools! The Dark Lord is not revealing himself for a reason! You will ruin it if you do that! No, what we need to do is sneak in there, Imperius a Ministry member, and make them tell us where Potter is. Once we have him and the Weasley girl, we call the Dark Lord."

The other Death Eaters nodded.

"What about me?" Greyback growled.

Bellatrix smiled coldly. "You can eat the Mudblood, my _darling _cousin, and the other blood traitor brat."

Greyback grinned, showing his yellow teeth. "I'm in."

* * *

**Okay, so the chapter's done. Next chapter FOR SURE they meet up with Yugi, Pharaoh, Mokuba, and others. **

**Ishizu: Why a bookstore? **

**Me: I wasn't sure what else you would have done, besides museum curator. And really? That seems boring, and would drive you a bit crazy. I mean, if something from Yami's tomb ended up in a museum...**

**Ishizu: I see your point. **

**Anyway, happy holidays everyone! **

**ASHLEY**


	4. Sister

**Sorry it's been so long! Here's the next chapter. Don't get too upset about the fighting scene, but I can't really write them that well. **

**Seto owes Kyra BIG!**

**Kaiba: Why? **

**Me: Read!**

**Dsiclaimer: OWN NOTHING!**

**A/N: MINOR EDITS 2/12/14. JUST GRAMMAR AND A COUPLE CONVERSATIONS THAT DIDN'T FLOW RIGHT.**

**Mind links: **

_*Bakura/Ryo*_

_Aziza/Ginny_

**_Yugi/Yami_**

* * *

Hermione awoke to Crookshanks pawing at her cheek.

"Huh? All right, I'm up," she groaned. Crookshanks purred and curled up on the floor next to a sleeping Ginny.

"Harry, Ron, wake up," she said, going over and shaking their shoulders.

"Hermione?" Harry asked groggily, feeling around for his glasses.

"Yeah. Get up."

Sirius walked into the room with different clothes on. "Bathroom's right next door, to the left. Hermione, you go get changed and I'll wake Ginny and Ron."

Hermione nodded, grabbed her bag, and left. Sirius pointed his wand at Ron, who hadn't moved. A jet of water shot out and hit him in the face. Ron jolted up and coughed. When he got all the water out of his system, he glared at Sirius. Harry was biting his lip to keep his laughter silent. Sirius just smirked.

"Time to get up."

"That was mean. I could have drowned!"

Sirius ignored him. "Ginny, Aziza!"

Ginny's eyes fluttered open. "Yeah?"

"Morning."

Aziza's eyes flew open in her Soul Room. "My brother! I'm going to see him again!"

Ginny laughed at Aziza's exuberance. _All right, Aziza. As soon as We get dressed, we're out of here. _

"Get ready, because as soon as I change, we are out of here." Ginny grabbed her bag and slipped past Hermione, who just reentered the room.

After she changed, Ginny let Aziza take over.

"Show me my brother," she ordered the Millennium Bracelet, holding it away from her body and focusing on her brother as she remembered him. She felt both her excitement and her brother's contentment. The Bracelet showed him walking toward a building. On one side a messy haired blond teen in jeans and a white shirt and blue shirt had his hands in his pockets, and a brunette in a light pink jacket, pink shorts, and a yellow top stood on his other side- the only girl in the group. Another brunet in a black jacket over a white shirt and jeans walked next to the blond. He hit the blond's shoulder as the blond laughed. Her brother stood between the blond and the girl. His jeans were a dark blue, matching his leather jacket that he wore over a black shirt. She watched him for a little longer, feeling his contentment and humor through the link, then blinked.

"Show me where he's going," she whispered, throat tight. The Bracelet gave her a close up of the Domino Museum. Thrilled, Aziza broke the connection and hurried out of the room.

"Domino Museum!" she hollered through the closed bedroom door. Harry opened the door and shoved Sirius's bag into her arms. Padfoot barked.

"We're leaving Hedwig and Crookshanks here; we'll be back for them," Hermione said.

"Why?" Ron asked.

Hermione grabbed his arm and steered him to the window, turned him a bit and pointed. "Because, Ronald, Domino Museum is practically right next door."

"She's right! The museum's at the corner of the block across from us," he said.

"We can leave our stuff," Harry decided, but retrieved the Invisibility Cloak from his bag.

"Come on!" Aziza took off.

* * *

"Hey, Yuge, you think Marik would be up for a duel?" Joey Wheeler asked.

Yami shrugged. "You would have to ask him."

"Well, I hope he is. I'm bored beyond belief!"

Téa Gardner rolled her eyes. "Joey, if you want to duel, duel Yugi."

"Téa, Téa. If I want to lose, I'll duel Yugi. No, I want to duel someone I can beat!" Joey smiled.

Yami shook his head.

"Tristan, who would you duel if you had a choice: Yugi or Marik?" Joey asked, turning to the fourth member of their group.

Tristan Taylor shook his head. "I'd lose all my life points before I drew my tenth card, no matter which one I was playing."

"You're not that bad!" Yami protested as they reached the museum. A teen with white hair was waiting for them. "Hey, guys!" he said when they neared him.

"Hi, Bakura," Téa and Tristan said. Yami nodded in greeting.

"Hey!" Joey waved. "How are ya?"

"Not bad." Ryo Bakura shrugged. "Marik and Ishizu are waiting inside."

A dog barked in the distance.

"So, we going in or what?" Joey asked.

"Yes," Yami said. He led the group into the museum.

* * *

"They just went inside," Ron said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I never would have guessed."

"Guys!" Harry interrupted their argument. "Not the time."

Aziza ran ahead of them with Padfoot at her side. "Come on!"

They reached the museum after what felt like forever to Aziza. Harry handed the Cloak to Sirius after he made sure no one could see him and shifted behind a pillar. He walked silently behind them as they entered.

"Where to?" Ron asked after Hermione paid their entrance fee.

"Egyptian exhibit," Aziza said confidently.

_How do you know?_ Ginny wondered.

_Where else would you look for a five thousand year old __**Egyptian **__spirit? _Aziza thought.

_Good point. _

"Downstairs," Harry said, pointing to a sign near the stairs.

"Good eye, Harry," Aziza complimented him.

As they descended the stairs, the Bracelet glowed brightly.

"What's up?" Sirius asked from beneath the Cloak as she stopped.

"Give me a second." Aziza turned her back on the others and looked at what the Bracelet showed her. She felt proud, and the need to hunt, to torture and kill. She saw several Death Eaters walking around a city. They were standing outside a school, near a sign proclaiming it to be Domino High. A Japanese Ministry of Magic employee pointed, and a female Death Eater threw her head back and laughed.

"Bellatrix," Sirius hissed from behind her. Aziza whirled, covering the Eye of Wdjat and effectively cutting off the image. Sirius had taken the Invisibility Cloak off at one point, and stood in front of her, blocking Harry and Ron's line of sight.

"We don't have much time. They'll be here soon," he continued.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"What was what?" Aziza asked distractedly.

"That bracelet thing that glowed."

She shook her head. "Ask later; right now, we have to find my brother. He'll be able to help us."

* * *

"My Pharaoh," Ishizu Ishtar greeted Yami, "it is good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Ishizu."

"Hey, Marik!" Joey high-fived the Egyptian. "You want to duel?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Deck?"

Marik held it up.

"Mokuba, what are you doing here?" Téa asked, noticing the boy near the stone tablet on the wall.

Mokuba Kaiba smiled. "I have to do an assignment on an ancient culture, and I picked Egypt. Ishizu's telling me what Egypt was like." He held up a notebook. "And how different it is today."

Joey yawned. "Why do you have to go to school?"

Mokuba scowled. "Just because I'm vice president of Kaiba Corp. doesn't mean I don't have to go to school- or, in my case, have a tutor."

Yami chuckled. Joey held up his hands in defense.

"Just saying, if I was VP of a company, I wouldn't work."

Téa rolled her eyes.

The Millennium Puzzle around Yami's neck, the Rod in Marik's hand, and the Ring around Ryo's neck suddenly flared to life.

_**What's happening? **_Yugi thought, worried.

_**I don't know, Yugi. But whatever it is, it can't be good. **_

_*Yami, what's going on?*_

_*Another Item must be around somewhere.*_

_*But we have the Eye and the Ring, Yugi has the Necklace and Puzzle, Marik has the Rod, and Shadi has the Scales and Key. And unless Shadi's around, it shouldn't be acting like this.*_

Bakura took over. _*No…it can't be.*_

_*What?* _

Bakura ignored him, waiting.

A redhead flew down the stairs. Her earrings and bracelet glowed brightly. Behind her were an even taller redhead who was probably the host's brother, a shorter boy with unruly black hair and glasses, a bushy haired brunette, and a man with black hair and grey eyes. He was carrying a silky material in his hands.

"Aziza!" the brunette called.

"It's her," Bakura breathed.

Ishizu and Marik gasped.

"No way."

The redhead, Aziza, stopped in front of Yami Yugi. The Items died down.

"Princess Aziza," Ishizu breathed.

"Hello. We don't have much time before they find us-"

"Aziza! Talk to us!" the black haired boy said when the other four finally reached her.

"Everyone who does not have an Item, get in a corner and stay there! Those that do, get your decks out," she continued, then turned to the people who came in behind her. "I'll explain later. Right now, we're about to have company."

"Bellatrix," the man spat.

"Yeah. Her and several other Death Eaters are headed our way."

"What are Death Eaters?" Yami asked cautiously.

The brunette was dragging Téa, Tristan, Joey, and Mokuba into a corner. Ishizu joined them.

"You, too." Aziza gestured to the others in her group.

"What? No! You're crazy," they protested.

"Look, we can take care of this. Trust me," she said.

"But-"

"No! You have to stay here; we're going to be playing in the Shadow Realm. I don't want you to get hurt."

"The what?"

Téa gasped. "Oh, no."

"It's either that or we might as well send up a homing beacon."

Bakura cackled. Marik shook his head, a slight smile on his face.

"So you want us to stay put?" the tall red head asked angrily.

"Yeah. If you interfere, the Shadows will take you." She turned to Ishizu. "Will you keep them out of the fight?"

Ishizu nodded. "Of course, my Lady."

"Thanks."

A chill ran up Yami's spine. Aziza closed her eyes momentarily, then they flew open again. A deck of Duel Monsters cards was suddenly in her hands.

"They're here."

There were loud cracks heard around the room, and five people in black robes materialized. Yami's breath caught.

_**What kind of magic is this? **_

_**I don't know, but be careful, **_Yugi warned.

One of them called up the stairs, saying something in English that Yami couldn't really understand.

Bakura grinned evilly. "Want to play a game?" he said, first in Japanese, then English.

The men looked at each other and laughed. Marik translated the conversation for Yami while Bakura spoke. "A game? Really?"

"Yes. A Shadow Game. Use whatever you want. Whoever loses, dies."

"You're going to die, anyway."

Marik tilted his head. "So that's a yes."

At those words, purple shadows began to fill the room.

More people appeared out of thin air.

Someone shouted a strange word, pointing a wooden stick at the group.

A jet of green light shot toward Marik. He ducked and the light missed his head by an inch.

* * *

Aziza gasped in anger. She held up a card. "Magician's Valkyria! I summon you!"

Kyra appeared in a shower of light, twirling her staff.

"Gil Garth!" A monster in blue armor that had metal spikes all over it and holding a curved sword appeared next to the tomb keeper with sandy blond hair. It swung its sword at the nearest Death Eater, who gasped as it hit him. He fell to his knees, and the Shadows claimed their first victim of the battle.

The Thief King summoned Shadow Ghoul, a green monster with what seemed to be red eyes on its face, shoulders, and knees. It disappeared then reappeared behind two Death Eaters that were aiming their wands at Bakura and clawed their throats out. The Shadows consumed the bodies.

Ginny pointed out Dolohov, Bellatrix, and Mulciber to her. _Those are three of the most dangerous Death Eaters around. _

Aziza stuck her hand in her pocket, then cursed. _I left our wand back with the animals and our other stuff. _

_It's fine, _Ginny assured her.

"Magician's Valkyria! Attack!"

Kyra aimed at Mulciber and sent a ball of energy directly at him, but he threw himself to the side and let another Death Eater take the blow. The eye of Anubis appeared on his forehead. Mulciber screamed, clutching his head.

"Nice one, Marik!" Bakura called as Mulciber turned on his comrades.

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!"

A double of Kyra appeared, except she was wearing pink and blue, her staff was blue, and she had blonde hair, not red. A man in complete purple stood next to her.

"_Avada Kedavera!_" Bellatrix cried, aiming at Shadow Ghoul, who had stalked over to her. It hit the Ghoul head on, and the Ghoul vanished with a screech. Bakura clutched his chest and groaned. She aimed at Dark Magician next, who was facing away from her.

"_Crucio!_"

Dark Magician turned around, facing the curse. Before it could hit, though, it switched targets in midair. Kyra dropped to avoid it.

"What the hell?" Ron hollered.

"Her special ability protects all Spellcasters on my side of the field!" Aziza shouted to be heard above the racket.

"Whatever that means! I take it that's a good thing?"

"She's basically a shield," Marik told him. Mulciber fired a spell at Bellatrix, who shielded herself. The spell rebounded toward Gil Garth. Hit in the chest, the monster groaned before falling. Marik groaned and drew in a ragged breath.

"Marik!" the other tomb keeper called.

"'S all right, Ishizu."

There were only two Death Eaters left that Aziza saw- Dolohov and Bellatrix were backed into a corner by Mulciber. Kyra guarded Sirius, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ishizu, and the others.

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, attack!"

Dark Magician attacked Dolohov while Dark Magician Girl attacked Bellatrix. Mulciber was released from the Rod's power just in time to get caught in the blast. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of any of the Death Eaters.

"Is it over?" someone asked from the other side of the room.

"No," the Thief King said ominously. "We're still in the Shadow Realm."

Dark Magician Girl's head twisted toward the group in the corner.

A hairy man, practically beast, appeared beside the boy with long black hair. He made to grab the kid, but Kyra pushed him out of the way and was grabbed instead.

"Greyback! Let her go!" Sirius cried, pulling everyone else away from the two. The two Magicians pointed their staffs at Greyback.

Greyback sneered, raking his yellow claws across Kyra's throat. Aziza could see her jaw clench.

_Blast him! _Ginny thought fiercely.

_That'll hurt Kyra! _

Dark Magician looked at Dark Magician Girl. She took a deep breath and nodded.

Greyback's teeth were at Kyra's throat as the two magicians fired. Kyra screamed and faded before Greyback was hit with a double blast of Dark Magic. He screamed and fell to the floor, robes smoking. His blue eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. Aziza, meanwhile, clutched her chest and winced at the pain. Hermione caught her before she fell and eased her to the floor. Bakura swept his hand, and several shadows peeled away from the fading ones around the room to send Greyback to the Shadow Realm.

The two remaining monsters disappeared.

_Let me take over, _Ginny begged.

_I'm fine, Ginny. _Aziza tried to rise, but her legs were weak. _Oh, all right. _

Ginny breathed slowly and leaned against the wall.

Finally, the blonde spoke.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?"

* * *

_**Yami, come on. It's perfectly safe, **_Yugi tried to persuade the Pharaoh to let him take over.

_**I don't trust these people. **_Yami looked at the redhead. _**Although, there is something oddly familiar about the girl…Aziza, right? **_

_**Yeah, and she's a spirit trapped in an Item. **_

_**What makes you say that? **_

_**Well, her hair just got lighter and longer, and she could Summon monsters, **_Yugi pointed out.

Joey spoke what Yami was sure they were all wondering.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?"

The man that Yami remembered was Sirius, or at least that's what Aziza called him, spoke up first. "Death Eaters."

"And those are…" Tristan said, trailing off so someone else could fill in the blanks.

Mokuba was still rubbing his throat, his eyes wide. "That could have been me."

"Kid, if Greyback had bit you, you wouldn't be able to wander around humans on a full moon and you'd get a lot of grey hairs before you're thirty. The monster, Magician's something or other-"

"Valkyria," Yami, Bakura, Marik, and Aziza's other self chorused.

"Yeah, her…she got lucky."

"Okay. Back to the question: What are Death Eaters?" Téa asked.

The bushy haired girl spoke up next. "They're servants of Voldemort."

"Not helping here," Joey said.

"It's not safe to talk about this here. We need to go someplace safe. Sirius, where's the cloak?" the messy-haired boy asked.

"This?" Ishizu held up the silky fabric that Sirius had stuffed into her hands earlier. Sirius took it from her.

"Thanks." He swung it around his body, and…disappeared.

Joey gasped. Téa stifled a shriek. Tristan blinked rapidly.

"Whoa," Mokuba breathed.

"Mokuba!" a voice called from the top of the stairs.

Mokuba turned toward the voice, his face lighting up. "Seto!"

Seto Kaiba entered the room, looking at the others, then at his pale brother.

"Are you all right?" he asked Mokuba, ignoring everything else.

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah. I almost got bit by this really weird guy, but Magician's Valkyria knocked me out of the way."

Kaiba glared around the room at the other occupants. Nothing was there, so Kaiba was probably thinking that they were messing with Mokuba's head. "What have you losers been doing?"

"Rich Boy, we haven't been doing anything. We came in here for a nice friendly chat, and all of a sudden these people show up-" Joey gestured to the new faces- "and we were under attack by these people in black cloaks."

Kaiba switched his glare to them.

"Oh, give it a rest. They're gone. Yugi's been hunted more than once, am I correct?" At Yami's nod, the other Aziza continued. "And you're filthy rich and there must be thousands of threats against you. So obviously, this is nothing new to your brother. And he's perfectly fine. Now, if you'll excuse me." She rose. "We have to get out of the museum and find somewhere safe. You guys coming or what?" she called over her shoulder as she, Hermione, and the two boys who were still unknown left the room. Ishizu moved before the others could think it over. Marik followed her, and everyone else sans the Kaiba brothers followed them.

* * *

"Where to?" Ginny asked as soon as they reached the bottom of the steps outside of the museum.

"Yugi's place, Bakura's place, or Marik's place. Take your pick," the blond said. The first two glared at him. The third shrugged.

"Which is closest?" Hermione asked.

"Yugi's place." Bakura grinned.

His glare switched to Bakura. Bakura grimaced, rubbing his head.

"I hate it when he does that."

"Can we get out of here, please?" Sirius asked impatiently from beside the blond.

He jumped. "What was that?"

"Joey, the guy's invisible," the taller brunet said softly.

"Oh, yeah."

"As soon as we get to Yugi's, we need to introduce ourselves," the other brunette said, and started down the street.

Aziza's brother shrunk, then he, the brunet, and the blond followed her. Ginny sighed. "Sirius, go get our stuff, and meet us there."

"Where's there?"

"I'll go with him," Marik volunteered.

Ginny looked at him, grateful. "Oh, would you?"

Marik nodded. "Sure. I just need to know where he is."

Sirius chuckled and threw the Cloak over Marik. Ishizu sighed.

"So you guys can't see me, right?"

"No," Harry verified.

"Get going!" Hermione hissed.

Ishizu led the remaining four down the streets of Domino until they reached a building shaped like a turtle. The sign said "Turtle Game Shop". Joey was waiting outside the door.

"Hey, Ishizu." He looked around. "Where's Marik?"

"Helping Sirius get their things," Ishizu said.

Joey shrugged and opened the door. "After you."

Ginny nudged Aziza through their link. _We're here._

* * *

"Ishizu," Téa greeted the Egyptian as she entered, closely followed by the foreigners.

"Hello," the bushy haired girl said. "I'm Hermione Granger. These are my friends, Harry Potter"- she pointed to the shorter of the two boys, the one with glasses and messy black hair- "Ron Weasley"- the other redhead- "and Ginny Weasley. Aziza shares a body with her."

"Téa Gardner," Téa replied. "You've already met Ishizu Ishtar, but the blond is Joey Wheeler, the brunet is Tristan Taylor, Bakura's over on the couch, and Yugi's in the chair." She looked around. "Where's Marik and that other guy?"

"Marik went with Sirius to get our stuff from where we stashed it," Harry answered, looking around the room.

"Creepy," Yami heard Ron mutter, looking at him standing next to Yugi.

"You can see me?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uh, yeah."

Yami glanced over at Bakura, who sat on the couch arm furthest from Ryo. The other spirit shrugged.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way…who _exactly_ were those people at the museum? Details, too," Joey demanded.

Ginny sighed. "Death Eaters are servants of the Dark Lord Voldemort," (Ron shuddered)"a wizard in England who wants to get rid of Muggleborns, Muggles…basically anyone who doesn't have pure blood. He wants control over the entire Wizarding world."

_**Sounds familiar, **_Yugi thought.

Yami sighed. He had a feeling they were about to get dragged into another save-the-world mission.

"Why were they after you?" Tristan asked.

"They want me and Ginny," Harry said. "Apparently, there's a prophecy that Voldemort's desperate to get his hands on, and needs me for some reason. He was planning on kidnapping Ginny and Aziza."

"What? Why?"

"As bait, to lure Harry there. Even if I can't get the prophecy myself, Harry would come after me and get the thing himself."

"What's this prophecy thing even say? Why is it so important to this guy?" Joey asked.

"We don't know. That's kind of the point. If we _did _know what it says, Voldemort would be after us. And when he found us, he'd torture us until we told him."

"And then?" Joey asked impatiently after Ginny was silent for ten seconds.

"He'd kill us," Harry said softly.

"So you're hiding from this Voldemort? Why did you come here?" Ryo asked.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry turned to Ginny. She sighed, and Aziza was standing there. She was saved from speaking, though, by the arrival of Sirius and Marik. Marik carried an orange cat that looked like it ran face first into a wall in the crook of one arm and the cat's wicker basket in the other. A bag was slung over each shoulder. Sirius had an owl cage with a snowy owl in it in one hand, three bags over his shoulder, and the cloak hanging over his arm.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione smiled and went to take the cat from Marik. Crookshanks grumbled, but allowed himself to be taken from the Egyptian's arm.

Harry and Ron took the bags from Sirius and set them by the wall.

"Is it all right if Harry lets Hedwig out?" Aziza asked, looking thankful for the momentary distraction.

"Hedwig?" Yugi asked, confused.

_**Probably the owl, **_Yami thought.

"Oh! Sure, I guess. As long as it doesn't make a mess."

"She won't." Harry opened Hedwig's cage, and the owl flew around the room a few times, coming to rest on Ishizu's shoulder.

"Marik Ishtar," Marik waved. "Ishizu's brother."

Harry introduced his group again, and introduced Sirius.

"Yes, we're hiding," Harry confirmed. "Aziza thought it was safest in a different country; she doesn't want Ginny to get hurt."

Bakura snorted. "Cowards."

"Shut up, thief." Yami glared at him. "You wouldn't want Ryo to get hurt, would you?"

Bakura opened his mouth to retort.

"Not only did I think it would be safest," Aziza said, "I thought you'd be able to help us, brother."

Yami's eyebrows shot up, and he took Yugi's place.

"Say what?" Joey and Tristan asked.

* * *

**Okay, so there it is! **

**ASHLEY**


	5. The Millennium Necklace

**Hey, everyone. It's been a while, I know. But I just got my muse back for this story and over the minor writer's block I had. So...yeah. Just a quick review: Aziza (Yami's sister and the Spirit in the Earrings), Ginny (her host), Harry, Ron, and Sirius are in Japan. They've met up with the gang, and are discussing why they came to Japan in the first place. **

**_Yugi/Yami_**

_Aziza/Ginny_

_*Bakura/Ryo*_

* * *

"I have a sister?" Yami repeated.

Aziza nodded.

Joey laughed. "You've gotta be kidding."

Aziza raised her eyebrows. "Why do I have to be kidding?"

Yami narrowed his eyes at Joey. Why was it so hard to believe he might have had a sister? After all, he remembered almost nothing of his past.

_**Maybe it's because you two look almost nothing alike, **_Yugi suggested. Yami mentally sighed.

_**So? Some siblings don't look alike because they each take after a certain parent.**_

Joey shrugged. "It's just strange to think Yuge has a sister."

"It's also weird to think you have a sister as sweet as Serenity," Téa snapped, getting annoyed.

"Yeah, you look nothing like Serenity," Tristan laughed. Joey's fist swung out and hit Tristan on the arm. "Ow!"

"Enough," Bakura snapped. "It's true. The stuck up Pharaoh does have a sweet sister."

Ginny snorted, appearing next to Aziza. "Aziza, sweet?"

Aziza swiped at her host's transparent shoulder.

"Bakura's being nice?" Joey looked thunderstruck. Yugi snickered through their mind link. Yami, meanwhile, aimed a hard look in Bakura's direction.

"Bakura, behave," Ryo sighed.

_*Why should I?*_

_*Because I asked nicely?* _

Bakura pretended to think it over. _*No, I think I'll mess with their heads a bit more. Now go to your Soul Room.*_

_*What are you, my father?* _Ryo swapped places with Bakura anyway.

"I really hate it when that happens," Joey shuddered. Bakura chuckled darkly.

"You guys don't seem to like each other," Harry noted.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Well done, Captain Obvious."

"I guess you could say that. Bakura's taken over Ryo's body, trapped us in the Shadow Realm, forced us to play several Shadow Games, he sent numerous people to the Shadow Realm, tried to steal the Millennium Puzzle, actually _did _steal the Millennium Eye, and has physically, mentally, and emotionally wounded Ryo!" Joey ranted.

Yami saw most of the foreigners scoot slowly away from Bakura.

Aziza raised her eyebrows. "And this is news? Of course he does those things. He's a self-centered, arrogant thief who has no respect for anything but himself and his own interests."

Bakura scoffed. "I take offense at that!"

"Take offense. That doesn't mean it's not true, unless you have finally redeemed yourself in the last five thousand years."

Marik laughed.

"Why do you need His Highness's help, anyway?" Bakura grumbled, eyes narrowed and focused on Marik. Marik ignored him; he had seen and been through too many terrible things to worry about the Spirit of the Ring.

"We needed a place to stay, and in case Voldemort started poking around, I could always use more Shadow Magic wielders." Aziza shrugged.

Bakura laughed, his amusement turning him away from Marik for the moment. *_She always has been more modest than the King over there. Not by much, but still.*_

Ryo phased out where Bakura had been sitting earlier, on the arm of the sofa. _*Come on, Bakura. The Pharaoh's not that bad. And how do you know her so well, anyway?*_

Bakura ignored him.

* * *

_Why is he so confused? _Aziza wondered. _Doesn't he remember me?_

_Well, ask and maybe you'll get an answer,_ Ginny suggested.

Aziza mentally raised an eyebrow at the other girl. _Don't mock me. _

_Me, mock you?_ Ginny asked innocently. _Why would I go and do such a horrible thing?_

"Why don't you remember me?" she finally asked. Aziza could tell she sounded like a wounded child.

Her brother shook his head. "I barely remember anything about Ancient Egypt. But you do seem familiar."

Aziza sighed. That was something, at least.

"We should get to know each other. These new surprises every thirty seconds are getting on my nerves," Ron finally said after a minute of silence.

Aziza nodded. "What do you want to know?"

Ron pointed at Ryo. "How can we see them?"

Joey linked. "Them who?"

"The guy who looks exactly like him! He's more transparent, but still!" Ron waved wildly toward Ryo. Aziza bit her lip to keep from laughing at the Thief King's annoyed face. "And Ginny's floating next to you, Aziza."

"So you actually _can _be observant," Hermione mock gasped. Harry laughed. Ron merely glared at the witch.

"Don't start, you two," Sirius sighed. Aziza couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she heard him add, "It's like Lily and James all over again."

"You can see us?" Yugi asked, surprised.

"People who have magic can see us," Aziza told him, nodding. "Or if they are or were a possessor of a Millennium Item."

"Who?" Joey cried impatiently.

"The Pharaoh, the evil Bakura, and Ginny, moron!" Tristan told him.

_Uh oh, _Aziza thought as Bakura looked at Tristan like he was imagining all the ways he could torture the other teen.

"What are Millennium Items?" Hermione interrupted, looking curious.

Instead of speaking, Aziza held up her wrist.

* * *

Hermione came over and examined the Bracelet. She traced the funny looking eye and squeaked when it reacted. It glowed under her touch. She dropped Aziza's wrist and moved back to her place beside Ron and Harry. She felt a weird connection with the Bracelet. It was like a thread tied her to Ginny, Yugi, Ryo, and Marik. It was similar to what she felt with Harry and Ron.

"How many Items are there?" she heard herself ask, even though the question hadn't formed in her mind.

Bakura narrowed his eyes at her. "Not telling."

"Why not?"

"For the same reason you came here to hide. Bad guys are always after the Items. They can be used for good or evil," Yugi explained. Hermione looked at the spirit form of the teen, ignoring Bakura's muttering. She nodded in understanding.

"Where's your bathroom?"

Several people blinked at the change in topic.

"Upstairs, second door on the left," the Pharaoh finally answered.

Hermione nodded and smiled at him. "Thanks. Be right back."

She went upstairs but, instead of going to the bathroom, she slipped into the first bedroom she saw, being careful to leave the door exactly as she found it.

* * *

_**What was that about?**_ Yugi asked.

Yami shook his head ever so slightly. _**No idea. She seemed kind of distracted. **_

Yugi thought about it. The girl, Hermione, had seemed incredibly distracted right before she went up to the bathroom.

_**What I want to know, **_Yami continued forebodingly, _**is why she was so curious about the Items.**_

_**I don't think she's after them, Yami, **_Yugi objected instantly, seeing where his mind was going. _**If anything, she might be willing to protect them. **_

_**What makes you say that? **_Yami asked curiously.

_**Did you see the way the Bracelet reacted? It was the same way our Items reacted after Aziza entered the museum earlier today. **_

The ancient pharaoh raised his eyebrows, eyes widening. _**You think she might be a destined bearer of an Item?**_

_**Perhaps. And there's a bond between her, Ron, and Harry. The other two might be destined for an Item as well.**_

_**But there are only seven. **_Yami thought it over. _**Wait, nine. **_

"Aziza, how come we haven't heard of the Bracelet before now?" Yami asked his long lost sister.

Aziza smiled gently. "It's been an obscure Item since the beginning, along with the Belt and the Earrings." She pulled her hair back to show him the Earrings—gold pearls with the Millennium Puzzle symbol dangling from them. "The Earrings are a set, though. You have to have both for the Item to work properly."

Yugi exhaled. There were more Items? He had forgotten about the Earrings; though, to be fair, he had only caught a glimpse of them. Then that made ten.

Yami stirred. _**She's been up there too long. **_

Yugi blinked before looking at the clock. Hermione had been gone for almost ten minutes. He started to get a funny feeling. _**Let's go find her. **_

Yami nodded and gave up control. One second Yugi was floating outside his body, the next he was firmly inside, fully aware and back in control of his body.

Yugi rose from his chair and hurried for the stairs, ignoring the others when they asked him what was wrong.

_*The Pharaoh and his host were acting weird,*_ Bakura noted.

_*Hermione _has _been gone for almost ten minutes. Maybe they were worried something had happened to her,* _Ryo suggested.

Bakura scoffed, following the pint-sized host upstairs. _*Or maybe he's worried she'll try to steal the Necklace. Well, she can't. That's my job!*_

* * *

Hermione was drawn to the bag on top of the desk. It wasn't a special bag—just an everyday small duffel bag—but Hermione reached out to pull the zipper open anyway. She gasped in awe when she saw the necklace. It was beautiful, with the eye she had noted on the Bracelet the focal point. There were a few minute differences, though. This eye was thicker and the sides curled up like horns, instead of curling off the edges.

Hermione slowly admired the necklace from every angle, until she finally gave into the overwhelming urge to put it on. When she did, images flashed before her eyes. An ancient palace was burning. Aziza was dying. The one they called Pharaoh knelt over her, cradling her head. She couldn't hear, but he seemed to be chanting. A gold glow encased Aziza and flew into the Earrings in her brother's hand. Aziza's body was gone.

The second image was one of Bakura and the Pharaoh standing across from each other. Bakura opened his arms and was engulfed in shadows. Gold light shot out of the darkness and entered a weird ring with spikes surrounding it that lay several feet away.

Next, the Pharaoh and a girl with brown hair and a staff were on a palace wall, lying down. The Pharaoh clutched the puzzle she had seen earlier around Yugi's neck. Somehow, she sensed they were dying. A dark figure, bigger than a giant, moved toward them. With visible effort, the Pharaoh rose and somehow caused the shadow to disappear. He disappeared at the same time, and gold light shot into the Puzzle in his hands. The girl faded into dust.

Finally, she saw two figures with monsters in front of them. She recognized the Pharaoh, but something was wrong with him. She saw red in his gaze, even though his eyes were a dark purple. A weird symbol was on his forehead. The blonde across from him was unfamiliar. A green circle with a six pointed star surrounded them. It was a sickly green, worse than the color of the Killing Curse. The angel monster on the blonde's side attacked, wiping out the Pharaoh's creature. The circle started to shine, and shrunk until it encircled the Pharaoh. Hermione started hyperventilating. That circle was deadly, and if he fainted she somehow knew that he wouldn't rise again. Green filled her sight, and the vision ended.

"NO!"

"Hermione!" she heard near her. It sounded like Ron. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her against a body. She blinked. Somehow, she had fallen to the ground. She was shaking and crying. That was terrible. What _was _that?

"What did you see?"

Hermione turned to the door. Hermione was no longer alone. Ishizu, Marik, Bakura, Ron, Harry and Yugi were all in the room with her.

"What?" she gasped.

"What did you see when you put the Necklace on?" Ishizu asked again.

"The _Necklace_ showed me that stuff?" Hermione scoffed. "How can a necklace show you terrible images?"

"Magic, obviously." Marik looked at Hermione's disbelieving face and scoffed. "Hypocritical. You're a witch, and yet you don't believe that some people can see the future or the past?"

"I've met so called Seers," Hermione scoffed right back. "Nothing but a bunch of fakes."

"You've only met Trelawney, Hermione," Harry reminded her. "And she actually has made a real prophecy before. Remember, about Pettigrew escaping?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Everything has an explanation."

"Some things have to be taken on faith. But if you want an explanation, you put on an Item that allows you to see the future and the past," Ishizu told her calmly.

"Now for the last time, witch, what did you see?!" Bakura exploded.

Hermione glared at him with a deadly intensity. "You summoned a giant shadow creature back in ancient Egypt. It killed the Pharaoh, Aziza, and another girl. He had to seal his sister in a pair of earrings and die himself to lock the monster away!" She struggled until Ron let go of her. When he did, she rose and headed for the door, ignoring everyone else. Right before she left, she turned and faced Yugi.

"You tell the Pharaoh that he'd better not play that card! I don't know what it is, but if I ever see him play it, he won't have to worry about it killing him. I'll do it myself!"

She slammed the door and fled.

* * *

**Well, that's the chapter. Catch ya later!**


	6. Conflicts

**Hello, lovelies! I'm back. Let's see...senior year is over, high school is behind me, I finally turned eighteen...sweet! Life is good right now. **

**Onto the next chapter of _Wizards and Spirits_. **

**Mind Links:**

_Aziza/Ginny_

_*Bakura/Ryo*_

**_Yami/Yugi_**

* * *

Aziza looked up as Hermione came down the stairs. It looked like she had been crying.

"Hermione?" Aziza, Ginny, and Sirius asked.

"Leave me alone!" She made a beeline for the door and took off into the street.

_I'm going to kill him._

_No, you can't, _Ginny protested as Aziza proceeded to the stairs. Harry and Ron nearly bowled her over trying to find Hermione. Sirius pointed to the door. They followed his unspoken directions and took off after Hermione. Sirius followed them after grabbing the Cloak and their wands.

_Why not?_

_Because he's your _friend, Ginny tried.

"Bakura!" Aziza shouted. _The Thief has no friends. _

Ginny sighed in her mind. It was no use arguing with her when she was like this. She retreated to her Soul Room, not wanting to be there for the argument and the fall out.

"What, Princess?" Bakura sneered.

"What did you do to Hermione?"

Bakura growled. "What did _I _do? Nothing! She's the one who put on the Millennium Necklace. She wasn't ready for what she saw, I guess."

"What did she see?" Téa asked, cutting off Aziza.

"She said she saw some of the Pharaoh's past," Ishizu told them, coming downstairs with everyone else.

"She also mentioned something about a card killing people," Marik added.

Joey blinked. "How can a card kill people?"

"Well, probably the same way Pegasus used cards to capture souls," Tristan answered.

Yugi's eyes widened. Téa's head swung around to face him.

"You don't think—"

"No, the Eye is gone," Yugi interrupted, shivering.

Aziza noticed Bakura smirking. She narrowed her eyes at him. _You stole it? _she mouthed.

Bakura blinked innocently. Aziza rubbed her forehead.

_Is your boyfriend giving you a headache? _Ginny asked from her Soul Room.

Aziza blinked. _Ginny, he's not my boyfriend, _she scoffed down the link. _Besides, he doesn't like me like that. _

_Oh, really?_

* * *

_*Stop flirting,* _Ryo scolded Bakura. *_We have more important things to worry about.* _

Bakura entered his Soul Room and stormed across the hall into Ryo's Room. Ryo ducked Bakura's fist, but Bakura's other hand came up and caught Ryo by the shirt collar.

"I am not flirting with the stuck up Princess," he hissed.

Ryo shrunk back as far as he could. It had been a long time since Bakura had physically harmed him. Ryo couldn't keep the flicker of fear from passing over his face before he controlled it. He mentally rebuked himself for dropping his guard around Bakura. _But Bakura's been nicer lately, ever since his duel against Yami Marik, _a small part of him argued.

"_Nice_?" Bakura laughed, catching every one of Ryo's thoughts. "I am not nice. I am cruel, vindictive, harsh, sadistic, malevolent, and malicious, but I am not, nor will I ever be, _nice_. You had best get over your pitiful delusions before I am forced to squash them out of you."

Bakura released him and flung Ryo to the ground. When Ryo looked up again, Bakura was gone.

_What just happened? _Ryo wondered.

* * *

Harry was getting worried. He was walking "Snuffles" with a hastily conjured leash, and Ron was standing right next to him. Snuffles sniffed the ground, trying to pick up Hermione's scent, but there were so many scents coming from so many directions that his nose was getting overwhelmed. Hermione had been missing for about twenty minutes now. Harry's mind conjured up images of what could happen to her. She could be attacked by anyone—Dementors, Death Eaters, Muggles, Duel Monsters….

"Where's the nearest park?"

"Huh?" Harry swung his head in Ron's direction, shaking off his morbid thoughts. He had no idea where that last thought came from. He shivered.

Ron was asking directions from a short old man with a bandana.

"Go straight, take your first left, turn down the seventh street on your right, and it's right in front of you," the man told him.

Ron nodded. "Got it. Thanks!"

Harry and Snuffles followed Ron as he ran in the direction of the park.

"Wait up!" Harry called. Ron's longer legs gave him an advantage. Harry and Snuffles lost sight of Ron almost instantly.

"Crap," Harry breathed. He looked at Snuffles. "Come on. We'd better make sure they don't kill each other."

Snuffles barked in agreement.

* * *

Bakura paced in his Soul Room. Being around Aziza was bringing his conscience to the surface again. It had been gnawing at him recently, ever since Battle City. He thought he had squashed his annoying conscience five thousand years ago. It had been hidden under his hatred toward the Pharaoh and his plans to steal all the Millennium Items. But now, ever since he had seen her—no, Bakura thought. It was before then. Battle City had brought back those memories. The Shadow Realm, which had kept him in darkness for so long, was being pushed back by happier times.

Bakura forced himself back into Ryo's body. He wouldn't change. He would stay harsh toward the others. He would keep his conscience in check. But…maybe he'd be a bit easier on his hikari. _After all_, he told himself, _wouldn't want the Princess to have an excuse to blast me back to the Shadow Realm. _

He turned to Aziza. "If you want to find your friend that badly, just use your Bracelet."

Aziza scoffed, obviously angry at herself for not thinking of that earlier. She activated her Item, and they all saw a quick flash of Hermione in the park. She was looking up in the air at something, obviously terrified, but she had her wand ready. Suddenly, Thunder Dragon swooped by and Hermione shot a spell in its direction; she missed. Thunder Dragon fired a ball of lightning at her. Hermione waved her wand and deflected the attack. Aziza deactivated the Bracelet, pale and shivering.

"What was that?"

"I've heard legends," Ishizu began, "of a time when Duel Monsters roamed the earth with us."

Marik swung in his sister's direction. He looked fearful. Bakura felt a sense of foreboding. Marik rarely looked so frightened. "You don't think…"

"I don't know what to think. I would like to go back home and find out, though." Ishizu turned to Aziza. "Can you somehow get us to Cairo?"

Aziza switched with her hikari, who nodded. The color was coming back to her face, and her shivers had lessened. "Give me a minute." She left for the kitchen and returned holding a pan. She tapped it with her wand and muttered a spell Bakura couldn't catch and placed it on the coffee table. "Don't touch it until you're ready to leave."

Ishizu nodded. "All I have to do is make a phone call." She went into another room.

"We're heading out to the park," the Princess's hikari told Marik.

They were forced to walk, since the Monsters were chasing the people running away from them. They didn't want to attract the Monsters' attention.

Bakura grabbed the hikari's wrist as she reached for her deck. "You can't protect them all. Protecting them will only waist your energy." Bakura sneered. "And I have the feeling that if you're going to save your friends, you're going to need as much energy as possible."

"He's right." The Pharaoh sounded pained; whether from agreeing with Bakura or because he couldn't protect the precious humans, Bakura didn't know. Probably both.

The hikari sighed and put her deck back in her pocket. The Pharaoh moved away from the group a little, most likely to mope or worry. It was what he did best.

A Soul Reaper hovered past. "Is it too much to ask for one minute of peace?" Tristan complained from a few feet in front of them.

Bakura smirked. "Blame the Princess. She's the one who dragged the problems here."

The Pharaoh summoned Curse of Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight to protect them as they headed for the park and glared in Bakura's direction. "Don't blame my sister, Bakura."

"Oh, protective already? You didn't even know you _had _a sister until this morning."

The redhead glared at Bakura, drawing him back into their argument. "We only brought the Death Eaters. Real live Duel Monsters is your area of expertise."

"You said you came here for help—"

"And so that automatically makes it our fault?" the redhead spat at him. The hikari had a mean glare on her. Good. There were too many pushover hikaris around Japan already, in his opinion.

_*Stop calling her hikari. It's rude. She has a name, you know.*_

_*Yes, I know. I just don't care.*_

_*Ginny. Her name is Ginny.*_

_*What part of _I don't care _don't you get?*_ he snapped at Ryo, irritated.

_*If you want to get on anyone's good side, especially Aziza's, you might want to learn her other half's name. She would be very insulted if you couldn't take the time to learn five letters.*_

_*And I care…why?*_

He sensed Ryo shrug in defeat. _*Fine. Just try not to let our body get hurt too much when she hits you.* _Ryo dropped the link.

The hikari—_Ginny_ glared at the thief. "We came here for protection and answers and to meet Aziza's brother. Nothing more."

"Oh, so it's the Pharaoh's fault." Bakura cackled. He always knew the Pharaoh attracted trouble.

_*Like you don't?* _Ryo asked timidly from his Soul Room.

Bakura mentally shrugged. _*I _cause _trouble. I don't _attract_ it.*_

"Besides, I don't think the Pharaoh will be much help. He doesn't remember anything about his past, either. In fact, you may remember more than he does."

Aziza appeared next to Ginny, frowning. "Oh. I didn't think of that." Her frown stirred something in Bakura that he had tried long ago to crush. He couldn't tell if it was sympathy, regret, or some other foreign feeling, but it had him opening his mouth.

"But I do."

Aziza blinked. Ginny narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"You would help her?"

Bakura scoffed and glared when he noticed three of the Friendship Freaks turn in surprise. They met his gaze and turned back around. "Don't pretend you three weren't listening." He turned back to Ginny. "I never said that, just that I remember more of my past then the Princess seems to." He ducked down an alley, wondering which store he could loot while everyone was freaking out over monsters flying around Domino.

* * *

_So he cares about you after all, _Ginny teased Aziza.

Aziza shook her head. _No. He was taunting me with the fact that he remembers more than my brother and I remember combined. The Thief King won't help me. _

_Didn't sound like that to me. _

_Well, you don't know Bakura, _Aziza thought bitterly. _He wouldn't help his own mother if she were dying. _

Ginny dropped the subject as they reached the park, but she doubted Aziza knew Bakura's mind. Maybe she would have a talk with Bakura's good side later.

* * *

**So, that is chapter 6. The Belt hasn't come into play yet. Dunno when it will. Eventually it will. **


	7. The Belt

**Hi! Hey, look. *Points to title chapter* It's the Millennium Belt! **

_Aziza/Ginny _

_*Bakura/Ryo*_

**_Yami/Yugi_**

* * *

Harry threw a curse at the advancing tiger. The big cat sidestepped the jet of light and leaped toward him, claws out and mouth gaping. He sent a spell straight into its mouth. The tiger dropped like a stone and started hacking, trying to cough up something. Harry started sending a myriad of hexes, curses, anything he could think of at the tiger. Soon he realized something was happening, and he didn't think it was good. The spells seemed to…absorb into the tiger's white fur.

Great. Magic apparently didn't work on these creatures. Harry looked over his shoulder to see Padfoot snarling and snapping at a hunched over gray monster with an eye patch over its left eye. The creature cackled, a high pitched grating sound that sent chills up Harry's spine and caused Padfoot's fur to stand on end. Harry took his eyes off the tiger for a second too long; by the time he registered the silence in front of him and turned his head, the tiger was on top of him. Harry grunted as the behemoth crushed his shoulders beneath its paws, his wand flying from his hand. It snarled in his face, teeth bared. This tiger's teeth weren't as big as he thought a tiger's should be. Its scarred eye was closed, but its second eye glared down at Harry. Its breath reeked. Harry grimaced.

He was going to die. Not at the hands of Voldemort, not during a war, but eaten by a tiger that was virtually indestructible—which was totally stupid, because the Death Eaters had been able to hurt the Monsters during the Shadow Game back at the museum. Harry growled, and the tiger growled back. If they were having a growling and staring contest, the tiger won hands down.

A roar split the air and Harry's eardrums. Something rammed the tiger from the side. The tiger went flying, relieving Harry of the weight. He sucked in a breath and grabbed his wand before scrambling up to see the giant red dragon pull the tiger into the air and squeeze its claws into the tiger's side. The tiger screamed sharply before disappearing. Padfoot nudged his leg. Harry looked down, and the dog grinned at him. Harry sighed, glad that his godfather was alright.

"Harry!" a female voice called from above him. Harry looked up and saw Ginny on the back of the fierce looking dragon. The wind from its wings buffeted Harry, even though he wasn't directly underneath it. He backed up a bit more where the force wasn't so bad. Ginny grinned in relief. "You okay?"

Harry nodded. "You?"

She shrugged. "I wasn't fighting. Genesis Dragon was." She patted the dragon's neck. The dragon seemed to preen at the attention. The dragon landed and Ginny slid down its neck right in front of Harry. If only all dragons were as well-behaved. Harry wished this dragon was used at the Tournament instead of the Hungarian Horntail.

Harry looked around. He saw a pale wolf with a red aura surrounding it sitting nearby. "What's with all the monsters?"

"Well, I summoned Genesis Dragon and Silver Fang to protect you and Padfoot. I equipped Silver Fang with the Spell Card, United We Stand, just in case."

"You can do that?"

Ginny nodded. "As for the rogue monsters, who knows. We should go. We're meeting up with everyone at the shop."

"What about Hermione and Ron?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. " 'Thank you Ginny, for saving me from the creepy Coach Goblin and the nasty All-Seeing White Tiger. You know, the one that was going to _eat me_.' " She stressed the last two words. "Hermione and Ron can look after themselves for a little bit. The Pharaoh and Joey are with them. They'll be fine."

* * *

Meanwhile, over at another section of the park, Ron was complaining that he hadn't even in _forever_. Actually, he had last eaten at dinner. They hadn't had breakfast this morning, and he was caught up in all the excitement. Had it really been less than a day since they came to Japan?

"What time is it?" he asked.

Téa glanced at a rectangular device with a bunch of numbers on it. It looked like a small telephone. Weird! "Almost two."

Hermione rolled her eyes and started walking. Yugi chuckled and followed her, and soon they were all headed back to the Game Shop. Ron trailed behind, wondering what they were going to eat. He could hear Joey and Tristan debating that very subject, and Yugi laughing. They sounded farther away than they should be. He blinked and saw that the others were not that far in front of him. Ron started looking around warily and reached into his pocket for his wand. He saw something glint in the bushes.

It could be a trap. After spending so long with Harry, one tended to get suspicious. Hermione might call him paranoid, but he was a wizard in a city full of Muggles. He was best friends with the Boy Who Lived, the number one enemy of You Know Who. No, number two—Dumbledore topped the list; he was just harder to trap—and he was finding out that there was very old magic at work here. He had every right to be circumspect. As he got closer, he saw that the glint was in fact a solid gold belt just lying next to a bush. There was an eye on it, like on the other Items. Ron heard Bill call it either the Eye of Anubis or the Eye of Wdjat. Honestly, he thought the terms were exactly the same.

"Pick it up, Ronald Weasley," a mystical voice said nearby.

Ron pointed his wand at the man that had suddenly appeared. He wore a turban and robes. His eyes were blank. A giant gold key hung around his neck, reminding Ron of the Millennium Items. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shadi, keeper of the Items." He gestured to the belt. "Pick it up."

Ron lowered his wand slightly. "Why?"

"A test. If you are truly destined to bear an Item, you must prove it."

Ron narrowed his eyes as he thought it over. Yes, he could think, contrary to what Hermione thought. He was more of a strategic thinker; he didn't know everything. He didn't want to. He could try to take the belt or walk away. But if the belt was an Item, he wondered what it did. Aziza's Bracelet was damn useful, and he remembered that the Bracelet went with the Earrings. He wondered what would happen if you took one Item out of the equation. On the other hand, the Items were dangerous. Yugi and Bakura said it themselves. He saw firsthand what the Necklace did to Hermione.

"Why me?" Ron asked finally. Shadi raised an eyebrow, so Ron elaborated. "Why am I destined to bear this Item?" He put a heap of scorn on the last three words. The way the man spoke kind of reminded him of Trelawney, but he didn't sound nearly as ridiculous saying it. Maybe it was his voice. He didn't sound as stupid as the Divination teacher. Trelawney could learn a few things from this guy. "Hermione I can understand, but…" He bit his lip and looked at his feet before continuing. After all, he would probably never see this guy again. "I'm nobody."

Shadi smiled. "Would you be willing to do anything for your friends?"

Ron's head snapped up. He glared. That was one of the stupidest questions in the world. "Of course."

"Yet you abandoned Harry Potter last year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

Ron's mouth fell open. "How do you know about that?" He shook his head. It wasn't important. "That was a mistake. I was jealous." Yes, Harry was the Boy Who Lived. He got all the attention and had a lot of money, while Ron and his family could barely get by. But he had also lost his parents, lived with a horrid aunt and uncle, and was being ridiculed and hunted.

"If you truly believe you would do anything for your friends, put on the Belt. Or walk away, back to the shop where you rely on a mere stick of wood for protection."

There was a dare in his voice, as if Shadi believed Ron would in fact turn and walk away. Ron's chin rose. He wouldn't back down from this. He put his wand in his pocket and, never taking his eye off of Shadi, picked up the Belt. He saw that he was mistaken—instead of just one eye, where the belt opened and closed, there were two. The second was smaller and directly opposite the first. Ron threaded the Belt through his belt loops. When he snapped it shut, he realized that it fit perfectly. Shadi nodded slightly.

"Well? Is that it?" Ron asked impatiently after a minute of silence.

Shadi inclined his head toward Ron. "Yes. Usually there are tests for an Item bearer. Yours is coming soon."

And between one blink and the next, while Ron was trying to figure out the cryptic message, Shadi disappeared.

* * *

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked when they got back to the Game Shop. Harry, Ginny, and Padfoot were waiting for them at the door. The monsters were still wreaking havoc, but they seemed to be avoiding the block where they were. Bakura was nowhere to be seen.

"He was right behind us," Tristan said, looking over his shoulder. "He'll catch up."

Hermione shook her head. "Ron hasn't been here enough to know where he's going." She reached up to touch the Necklace that she somehow couldn't force herself to take off. "He could be lost, or a monster could get him, or—"

"Hermione," Aziza said, breaking through her worried rant. She blinked and saw the transparent princess in front of her. "Ron will be fine. He has his wand. If he's not here in ten minutes I'll go out and look for him."

Hermione looked at her hopefully before taking a breath. "Okay."

"Well, now that that's settled," Joey said, "Let's eat!"

Hermione smiled slightly. He reminded her so much of Ron. Téa muttered something under her breath as they went inside, Tristan and Joey making a beeline for the kitchen. Padfoot transformed fluidly into Sirius and followed them, while Yugi, Téa, Ginny, Hermione and Harry went to the sitting room. Crookshanks curled up on Yugi's lap immediately. Hedwig was asleep on top of the television.

"Where did Marik and Ishizu go?" Harry asked.

"They went back to Egypt to try to figure out what's going on with the monsters," Yugi told him.

"I'm worried about what Bakura's up to," Téa said, biting her lip.

"Knowing the Thief, he's busy looting every store he can," Aziza scoffed.

Ginny gave Aziza a look. Aziza scowled, and Ginny sighed. Hermione looked at them, confused. Were they using body signals? Or did they just know each other that well?

"What's wrong?"

Hermione jumped at the Pharaoh's voice next to her. "Don't _do _that!" she snapped.

He chuckled. "Apologies."

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry. This whole day has been insane."

The Pharaoh nodded. "Agreed. After all, it's not every day monsters appear out of nowhere."

"Or that you have a long lost sister." Hermione turned to face the Pharaoh. "Look, I can't imagine how difficult this is for you—"

"It's not as difficult as you might think." Hermione blinked, so he elaborated. "For so long I have had no memory of my time as Pharaoh. Aziza is a part of that time. Her being here feels…right, somehow. Yes, I will have to adjust to the thought of having a sister, but it makes my past that much less of a mystery."

Hermione smiled slightly. "To tell you the truth, monsters aren't that much of a big deal for me anymore. But why didn't our spells work on them? During that Shadow Game at the museum, the Death Eaters' spells worked fine."

He thought it over for a minute, looking at Yugi. Yugi shrugged and his eyes went a little distant as he scratched Crookshanks' ears. Hermione blinked. The Pharaoh finally spoke. "Perhaps it is because it isn't Shadow magic that allows the monsters to walk free. Additionally, in the Shadow Game, the Death Eaters were essentially the Duel Monsters. They would have to be able to affect the other Monsters to have a hope of winning."

Hermione scoffed. The Death Eaters had never stood a chance, between Marik's Rod and Magician Valkyria's special ability. "I have another question. What's with the looks?"

The Pharaoh frowned. "Looks?"

"Yeah. You and Yugi, were you using body language? Yugi's eyes got distant a minute ago. Ginny and Aziza were doing something similar."

The Pharaoh smirked. "When you share a body with someone, you tend to learn a few tricks."

Joey and Tristan walked in with several plates of food, half of it devoured. Sirius carried a plate stacked high with sandwiches to the coffee table. When Joey reached for one, Sirius grabbed his hand. "No more. You've had several."

Joey frowned, trying to use puppy dog eyes to get another. Sirius snorted. "Kid, I _invented_ that look. Don't try it on me."

Hermione giggled and turned back to the spot where the Pharaoh had been. He was gone.

* * *

_**Nice, **_Yugi snorted in his head as he bit into a sandwich, breaking off a piece for the cat next to him.

_**What? **_Yami asked innocently.

_**Leaving her in the dark like that. I have a feeling she won't just let it go.**_

_**She'll either figure it out or she won't. All I know is that I won't be the one to give her all the answers.**_

Yugi had just finished his first sandwich and was on his way for a second when the door opened. Bakura sauntered in and snatched the last sandwich on the plate Joey was holding. Joey's mouth dropped in outrage.

"That was mine! Get your own!"

Bakura smirked. "I just did."

Joey glared as Bakura ate the sandwich slowly. It was obvious the Thief was amused at Joey's possessive attitude over food. Yugi sighed.

"Joey, there's a whole stack by Sirius. Go get another one."

"Sirius won't let me have one," Joey grumbled. "He says the rest are for Ron."

Bakura smirked. "Ron may be a while." Several death glares were leveled at Bakura for that comment. He rolled his eyes. "Relax, the Scarecrow is fine."

"Scarecrow?" Ginny asked dubiously.

"Yeah. Tall, no brain." Bakura caught the plate that Hermione hurled at him. He looked at her, eyes glinting dangerously. "Don't try that again."

"Next time it'll be a knife," Aziza threatened.

Bakura grinned maniacally. "I like knives."

_**Well, now she knows what to get him for Christmas, **_Yugi thought.

"What did you do, Bakura?" Yami sighed.

"Who says I did anything?"

"Because you couldn't be honest to save your life," Aziza spat.

"All right, Princess. I'll let you know what I did with him." He leaned forward so that he was looking Aziza directly in the eye. "_Nothing_. I saw him outside the Domino Museum about ten minutes ago. If he does have a brain, he'll try to retrace his footsteps. Of course, he could also ask for directions." Bakura leaned back in his chair and finished his sandwich before disappearing upstairs.

The door opened again, and Ron stumbled in. Hermione hurled herself at the ginger. They clung to each other for a second before she pulled back and whacked his shoulder. Yugi winced at the sound.

"Hey, Ron." Sirius held up the plate. It was still mostly full. "We saved you some food."

Ron grinned and was over by Sirius in a second, grabbing a sandwich in each hand. Yugi blinked. _**Did he teleport? **_

_**No,**_ Yami chuckled. _**I think he loves food as much as Joey and Tristan, though.**_

_**That's **_**possible? **Yugi thought in astonishment. Apparently it was, because Ron practically inhaled half the plate before coming up for air.

"Wow," Téa said. "And I thought Joey and Tristan were bad."

Ron grinned, mouth luckily closed, but pieces of food were stuck to his teeth. Yugi grimaced slightly. Hermione and Téa groaned in disgust.

"Manners, Ronald!"

Ron's lips slid back over his teeth as he glared at Hermione.

"So, Ron," Harry said slightly louder than necessary, "where were you?"

Ron swallowed pointedly before answering. "I got lost on the way back. Somehow I found myself outside the museum and I retraced my steps."

"But you were right behind us. How did you get lost?"

"I, uh, got held up."

"What he means," Bakura said coldly, "is that somehow he managed to get his hands on a Millennium Item."

Ginny rolled her eyes. _Your boyfriend is _such_ a drama queen._

_He's not my boyfriend, Ginny! _Aziza didn't put much bite into the objection, more interested in the fact that Ron supposedly had a Millennium Item.

_Scratch that,_ Aziza thought as Ron shrugged tersely. Now that she knew about it, she could feel a slight energy coming from Ron, identical to but weaker than the energy coming from Ryo and Yugi. _He _definitely _has a Millennium Item._

"So what if I do?" Ron asked defensively. "Everyone else seems to have one."

Several people gasped. Yugi was frowning. "But where did you get it? And which one is it?"

"Some dude in a turban told me to pick it up, so I did." Ron relaxed slightly, since Yugi wasn't very imposing.

Bakura huffed. "That's not fair."

Ginny let Aziza have control so that the two of them could bicker in peace.

"Life's not fair, Thief," Aziza reminded him. Her voice wasn't harsh, as if Bakura was an afterthought. "He has the Belt. That's got to be it."

Ginny saw Bakura toss something shiny and pointy in Hermione's direction. Ron's eyes widened and something glowed under his jacket. The air in front of Ron and Hermione shimmered, like a mirage. Hermione and everyone else stared as the paper clip hit the force field and rebounded a few feet before hitting the ground.

Bakura nodded in affirmation. "He has the Belt."

Ginny and Aziza both wondered how long it would be before Bakura attempted to steal it for himself.

* * *

It didn't take long for Ron to tell them what Shadi had said. Bakura tuned him out afterward, wondering how he could get the Belt away from Ron. It had taken forever to get it last time, and only because the Priest had given his life force for the Pharaoh.

_*I don't think you can,* _Ryo whispered through the link. Bakura had forced him to sleep after separating from the others earlier, not wanting to hear him fretting and trying to convince Bakura to return the things he had stolen. He had only woken up when the Ring finally registered the presence of the Belt and started pointing downstairs.

_*Stupid Belt,*_ Bakura complained. _*It has a very strong defensive mechanism.*_

_*Ah, but that's why you want it so bad, isn't it?* _

Bakura smirked. His landlord knew him so well.

"—wonder if it has anything to do with the monsters roaming around," Téa mused.

"Probably," Joey agreed.

The Pharaoh's midget frowned. "Shadi usually lets the Items test people on their own."

The Pharaoh looked at Bakura. "What does the Belt do?"

Bakura raised his eyebrows. "Why would I tell you?"

A collective sigh went through the room.

"We know it's a shield," Harry said, speaking for the first time since Bakura came into the room. "But how good is it?"

Bakura remained silent.

_*Bakura, please,* _Ryo sighed.

_*Why should I?* _

_*You know more about the Belt than anyone else. If something happens to us, they'll be clueless. And why did the Belt show up now?*_

_*Because the Belt only chooses a bearer when the darkness is near. End of the world, nothing new for them.* _

Ryo squeaked faintly and faded into existence next to Bakura.

"Hey, Ryo," Ginny greeted. "What's wrong?"

Ryo's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.

"He's a little upset because I just told him a secret about the Belt."

Joey got up from the couch to pull Bakura up by his shirt. "Listen you, either help us or shut up. We don't need your stupid remarks."

Bakura gripped Joey's wrists and tightened his grip until Joey had to release his shirt to pull away. Bakura let him go and pointed to Ron.

"You have a choice: either figure out the full power of the Belt on your own or watch everything you've ever known become enshrouded in darkness."

Bakura let Ryo have control. _*Let's go home.* _

Ryo hesitated. "Bakura said the Belt only chooses a bearer when someone is about to destroy the world."

Harry and Yugi both shook their heads.

"Voldemort's been threatening everyone, not just wizards, for a long time now," Harry said.

"Don't forget Battle City," Yugi reminded him. "So why didn't it show up before?"

Ryo shrugged. "He said something about the darkness."

Bakura rolled his eyes. _*If you're going to pass on a message, do it properly. Now, let's go home so I can sort through our loot.*_

_*_Your_ loot,*_ Ryo objected as they entered the Game Shop. Yugi's Grandpa nodded at him. A card on the counter caught Bakura's eye. The monster on it was pale white. The top half was a man with tiny wings, a horn, and pointy ears. The lower half formed a snake.

_*I want it.*_

Ryo sighed, knowing Bakura would get hold of it somehow. He pointed to the card. "How much?"

Ryo could feel Bakura lurking in his mind, filled with anticipation and excitement as he paid for the card.

_*What's the big deal?*_

Bakura appeared next to him and ran an invisible finger over Diabound Kernel before Ryo put it in his card holder.

_*None of your business._*

Ryo sighed again and let the subject drop.

* * *

**See? Told ya! The Belt's here. If anything doesn't make sense, let me know. **

**I would have had this up ages ago, but my computer fried. BUT, I am working on the next chapter right now. Until next time. **

**ASHLEY**


	8. A Day Out

**Boo! **

**Let's see, disclaimer, done. I really don't own anything you recognize. If I did, this may or may not be some whacked canon.**

_**Yami/Yugi**_

_Aziza/Ginny_

_*Bakura/Ryo*_

* * *

"Good riddance," Tristan declared as Ryo left.

"What do you think Ryo meant by 'the darkness'?" Téa asked warily.

Yugi shook his head. "I don't know." But whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"First things first," Sirius said, leaning forward. "We should test the Belt."

First, Ron tried to summon the shield on his own. It didn't work. Next, Tristan and Joey threw various objects at Hermione and Harry. They threw napkins, pencils, forks, couch cushions, anything they could get their hands on. The Belt activated when they threw the sharp objects. The pencils and forks never got closer than a few feet before something deflected them. The less harmful stuff seemed to be able to pass right through it. Yugi and Téa took Crookshanks and Hedwig upstairs to Yugi's room, just in case.

"Think fast." Sirius conjured and threw a baseball at Ron's head in one smooth move. There was one problem: Ron wasn't facing him. Before Ron fully turned around, the second eye on the Belt glowed and the baseball rolled to a stop at Sirius's feet.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. So the Belt deflected attacks from in front and behind. That would be useful.

They began throwing the pencils, forks, and the baseball at Harry and Hermione to determine how far the Belt's shield extended. It was slow work, but they found out the shield extended about twenty feet maximum. It could form a sphere when activated on both sides and a semi sphere when only one side was needed.

Yugi left after an hour to take over in the shop for his Grandpa. Soon the old man that Ron had asked for directions to the park came in, who introduced himself as Solomon Muto. Tristan, Téa and Joey greeted him and introduced him to everyone else before they told him about the Belt.

"Hmm. I thought that was only a myth." The old man chuckled. "Then again, I used to think a lot of things were myth before I saw them for myself."

"How does it work?" Ron asked eagerly.

Mr. Muto shrugged. "All I know is that it was used to protect the Pharaoh."

Ron groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Well, thank you." Ginny held out her hand for Mr. Muto to shake. He took it and saw the Bracelet. His eyes went wide. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Princess Aziza, would you?"

"Well, this day is just full of surprises." He leaned back. "Not much is known about the Lost Princess. She was the Nameless Pharaoh's sister, and she was there during the battle that almost destroyed the entire world. Supposedly, the Pharaoh sealed his sister's spirit in the Millennium Earrings when she was dying."

"How do you know?" Ginny asked.

"There's a cartouche at the bottom of the Tablet of Lost Memories in the museum. It just has her name and a carving of the Earrings and the Bracelet, nothing else."

"What kind of battle?" Harry asked. "What were they up against?"

Yugi's Grandpa shrugged. "The tablet says they battled an evil sorcerer, the Pharaoh's greatest rival. He happened to look remarkably similar to Kaiba. But history has been known to be misleading."

Sirius recalled Aziza saying something about the Thief King Bakura causing all the trouble. He sighed. They could only hope that Bakura would be on their side this time. "Okay, it's getting late. We should get going."

"It's only just after four," the old man objected. "Besides, all your stuff is here. We have extra room."

"We wouldn't want to be any trouble, Mr. Muto," Hermione immediately objected. "We have a place to stay."

He smiled at her. "So polite. It won't be any trouble at all. No sense in having you waste money on a couple of hotel rooms when you can stay here."

Harry looked at Sirius. "What do you think?"

Sirius sighed. He didn't want to seem rude, and he definitely didn't want to spend another night in that abandoned house, but he also didn't want to make the Mutos feel like they had to accommodate their little group.

"On one condition," he said finally, smiling at Mr. Muto. "We buy the groceries."

Solomon thought it over for a minute and nodded in agreement.

"Great!" Joey jumped up. "I'll go with them."

"Where did you get the money?" Harry whispered as they followed Joey and Tristan down the sidewalk. The monsters from earlier seemed to have stopped terrorizing everyone and were merely hiding in alleys or wherever they could find shelter. Ginny summoned Silver Fang to guard them, just in case.

"Mad-Eye took it out of my account while you were at St. Mungo's," Sirius replied.

"Aren't you worried someone might recognize you?" Hermione whispered anxiously.

Ron groaned. "Hermione, relax. He'll be fine."

"Just because I worry, Ronald—"

"Don't make me hex you two," Ginny sighed.

They spent the rest of the walk in silence. Ginny, Sirius and Harry separated Ron and Hermione so they wouldn't start arguing again.

Oh, yeah, the two of them reminded Sirius of Lily and James.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to get to the virtually empty grocery store, but the foreigners were so fascinated by the layout. Joey wondered if any of them had actually been in a store before. Hermione was the least affected, but she still found some of the items in the store strange.

"You guys are from England, right?" Joey asked her. She nodded. "So how do you speak Japanese so well?"

Hermione smiled and held up the wrist with her silver bracelet. "It's got a Translation Spell. It allows the person wearing it to hear everyone in their native language, and it allows you to do the same."

"So, if Marik and I were listening to you, he would hear Egyptian while I heard Japanese?"

"Yeah. Pretty neat, huh?"

Joey laughed. "That's so cool. I thought you were all just fluent at Japanese. But Ishizu and Marik didn't seem surprised to hear you speaking Egyptian."

"They know about the spell."

Joey jumped as Aziza appeared behind him silently. She grinned. "Sorry." Silver Fang huffed, like it was as amused as its mistress.

"No, you're not," he grumbled, glaring at the wolf. "So how do they know about it?"

"Ginny and Ron's eldest brother works with Ishizu at her bookstore."

"Eldest?"

"Yeah. There's Bill, then Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny."

Joey counted quickly, and his mouth dropped open. "Seven kids?"

Hermione and Aziza giggled.

"Yes, seven. It helps that three of them moved out."

Joey shook his head in amazement. Seven kids! He was still trying to wrap his head around it.

"Hey." Harry stuck his head around the corner. "We're ready to go. If you have anything, add it to Sirius' cart."

Hermione and Aziza looked at each other, then at the baskets on their arms. They didn't have much, so they combined the contents into one basket and went to find Sirius. Joey, Harry, and Silver Fang followed.

"So what did you get?"

"Everything on the list for Mr. Muto, ingredients for lasagna, and some chicken. Oh, and we got some fruit and snacks."

Joey nodded. They found the others and Joey snorted at the groceries piled in the cart. "No wonder you guys insisted on buying."

* * *

Yugi was closing up the shop when the group came back with the groceries.

"Hey, Yuge!" Joey called.

Yugi sighed in relief, the tenseness leaving his shoulders, and waved back. "Hey, guys!" He blinked at the bags in their arms. "Did you clean out the whole store?"

Sirius barked a laugh. "No, but I think we came close. Can you get the door for us?"

Yugi held the door as they all filed through to the house. Silver Fang vanished in a mist of purple. "Téa went home. She told me to call later, tell her you guys were all right. We thought you guys got eaten or something."

"Nah," Tristan said. "We could have taken on a couple of monsters."

"With what?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Our bare hands!"

"Tristan, you couldn't take down a couple a flies with your bare hands. Me, on the other hand. I could hold 'em off with my awesome deck!"

Yugi ignored the bickering pair, choosing to help unpack everything.

"The monsters aren't actually doing much anymore," Aziza told him."I saw Celtic Guardian in an alley on the way to the store, and some dragons were on some of the taller buildings, but other than that the streets were quiet. Maybe the other monsters went back to wherever they came from."

Yugi shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple."

She sighed dramatically. "I know, but a girl can dream."

"Maybe they're hiding," Ron suggested.

"From what?" Hermione asked, joining the conversation. "Nothing can really affect them except other monsters. As far as we know, only Bakura, Yugi, and Aziza can control the Monsters in their decks."

Ron shrugged. "It was just a thought, 'Mione."

"The darkness."

They all turned to Harry. He fidgeted under their stares. "Well, think about it. Bakura mentioned the darkness that's supposed to bring about the end of the world. If that's what released the monsters, they'd be scared of it too."

Aziza shivered. "Can we not talk about this anymore? Please?"

Yugi privately agreed. This mysterious darkness was starting to give him the creeps. And not knowing what it was made it much worse. He wished they had more information about everything.

"So, what do you want for dinner?" Sirius asked, effectively ending that conversation.

* * *

Sirius and Grandpa were in the kitchen cooking dinner. Yugi thought he could smell noodles and sauce.

"Hey, Yuge," Tristan said after Yugi got off the phone with Téa, "did you know about these Translation bracelets these guys have?"

Yugi shook his head, intrigued. Hermione explained to him how they worked.

"Everyone hears their native language?" he repeated, amazed. Well, that explained a lot.

_**What do you hear, Yami?**_

Yami chuckled sadly. _**Japanese. Ancient Egyptian is a dead language; I doubt their spells could ever translate it.**_

"The only problem is, it doesn't translate really old languages," Aziza verified.

Yugi sighed. "What do you hear?"

"English." She thought for a second before a few words stumbled out of her mouth.

_**Can I take over? **_Yami asked. Yugi could feel a hint of excitement and wonder coming from him.

_**Sure,**_ he chuckled and let Yami have control. Yami immediately replied in the same language.

Aziza laughed, grinning happily. They carried on a conversation like this for a few minutes, before Ron got annoyed and cleared his throat.

"Well?"

Aziza turned her grin to Ron. "Well, what?"

Ron waved his arms through the air, agitated. "What were you two talking about?"

Yugi wanted to know, too. For some reason, he couldn't translate Ancient Egyptian.

_**For the same reason you can't read hieroglyphs. You don't have the knowledge required. You also didn't attempt to tap into the link to hear what I heard, **_Yami chided gently.

_**So how come you can speak Japanese?**_

_**Because I share your body. If it were the other way around, you would know Egyptian and Japanese; I would only know Egyptian.**_

_**Makes sense, **_Yugi thought after thinking it through.

_**I also listened through your ears to pick up the language faster, **_Yami finally admitted.

Yugi chuckled.

"I asked how he was today. He told me that he was all right, and asked how the trip to the store was. I told him that we got there all right, and that we didn't have some of the things in England that they had here. He asked, 'like what'. I said, 'like the money'. It was weird how they handled the yen here. He said it would just take some getting used to, and that when we went back to England it would probably take some time to readjust to our old ways. I told him I didn't think so. Then he asked what was for dinner. And that was as far as we got before you interrupted."

"Well, why are you speaking Ancient Egyptian?" Joey complained. "Why not speak normal?"

"Normal-_ly_," Hermione corrected. He scowled at her.

"Maybe they just want to insult you in front of your face," Tristan snickered.

Joey gripped him in a headlock. "And maybe they just said you look like a monkey's backside."

Aziza frowned. "You are just like Ron."

"Oi!" Ron cried.

"Dinner! Go wash up," Grandpa called. Joey, Tristan, and Ron were the first out of their seats.

Yami chuckled, following everyone upstairs and somehow waiting alongside Aziza.

"So, do you wanna do anything tomorrow?" Ginny asked, appearing right behind the two of them.

Yami's brow furrowed. "Like what?"

Ginny shrugged. "I dunno. Whatever there is to do here. Just spend some time with Aziza." Aziza seemed to stiffen slightly. Yami wondered if he was seeing things, but he didn't think so. He was curious to find out more about his sister. He had no memory of her, but maybe spending some time with her would fill in some of the pieces of the puzzle.

Yami nodded his head regally. "Yes. That would be nice."

Aziza's grin lit up the room.

* * *

After dinner, they decided where everyone would sleep. Hermione and Ginny got the guest room, Harry and Ron were sharing Yugi's room, and Sirius was curled up on the couch.

_So, are you excited for tomorrow?_ Ginny asked as they got ready for bed. Well, as _she_ got ready for bed; Aziza was in her Soul Room, thinking about what they could do tomorrow.

Aziza scoffed at the sarcastic remark.

_We could go to the park, _Ginny suggested. _Or that arcade place Tristan told us about. _

_Or we could go downtown, see what stores they have. _

_He's a guy. I don't think he'll want to go shopping. Besides, we'd have to ask Sirius for money._ Ginny knew he would gladly give her some, but she didn't want to ask. _You could always help out at the shop and just talk to him._

_Tomorrow's Sunday, _Aziza reminded her.

_Oh, yeah. _

They were silent for a bit, each thinking their own thoughts. Aziza broke it timidly, which was so unlike her. _Ginny? _

Ginny sent her friend a mental hug. _Yeah?_

_What if he doesn't like me?_

_He's your brother. Even if he doesn't remember you, he'll love you. Besides, he has to remember you a little bit. He said you seemed familiar. _

Ginny could sense Aziza's slight smile. _Well, there is that. As long as we don't run into the Thief tomorrow, I can't imagine what could go wrong. _

Ginny climbed into bed next to Hermione. "Night."

"Good night."

_Good night, Ginny. _

_Get some rest, Aziza. You'll be too tired to do anything tomorrow if you stay up all night. _

_Technically, I don't need sleep. I'm a spirit._

_Yes, but sleep is a good thing. _

_All right, _Aziza acquiesced. _I'll try to get some sleep. _

It seemed like moments before someone was shaking her awake. Ginny's head rose. She didn't remember falling asleep.

"Ginny, breakfast."

Ginny waved Hermione off. "All right, I'm up."

Hermione disappeared from the room. Ginny closed her eyes and tried to get some more sleep. Her bed was so warm, and her pillow was soft. Surely a couple more minutes wouldn't make a difference.

"Ginny!"

Hermione sounded so much like her mum that Ginny was out of bed and halfway down the stairs before she registered her movements. When she got to the kitchen, she noticed that everyone else was up. Grandpa, Sirius, and Harry were dressed. Everyone had a plate or bowl of food in front of them. Yugi handed Ginny a bowl of oatmeal, which she accepted gratefully.

"So, any ideas for today?" she asked, taking a bite of oatmeal.

Yugi shrugged. "Yami's been in his Room all night, thinking. I doubt he slept a wink."

"Spirits don't need sleep, Yugi," Ginny told him, mimicking Aziza's voice. "But I know what you mean. Aziza's been freaking out since last night."

Aziza and Yami appeared next to them, identical scowls on their faces.

"I was not freaking out, Ginny," Aziza said haughtily.

"Yeah, and I'm a Malfoy," Ginny mocked her before turning to Yami. "So what did you decide?"

"I decided to let Aziza choose where we were going to go today."

Aziza nodded and faced him. "Okay. After breakfast, do you want to go to the arcade? Then we could perhaps walk around town and talk?"

Ginny and Yugi exchanged a look and headed for the table. Ginny sat between Sirius and Hermione and Yugi rook a seat directly across from her, next to Grandpa and Harry. Ron sat between the two, completing the Golden Trio, as they were known throughout Hogwarts.

"So, what are you going to be doing today?" Grandpa asked Yugi.

"I was thinking of taking Ginny downtown," he answered. "You know, so Yami and Aziza could spend time together."

Ron's head swiveled around. He was paying full attention to their conversation. Ginny sent him a glare filled with a promise of pain to come if he said anything stupid. Of course, it was Ron, so the first sentence to come out of his mouth was stupid.

"Where are you taking my sister?"

Ginny had to take a deep breath and resist the urge to throttle him.

"Just around town, show her what Japan is like." Yugi was very polite, either not catching or ignoring Ron's accusation.

Ginny had to stuff oatmeal in her mouth to avoid getting into an argument.

"Oh." Ron got up from the table, empty plate in hand. He spooned some more eggs onto his plate and sat back down. Ginny watched him warily. Another spoonful of oatmeal was halfway to her mouth when he said, "Then you won't mind if I tag along."

"You most certainly will not!"

Ron and Ginny glared at each other. Awkward silence filled the air before Sirius decided to break it.

"Ginny. Ron." He rose, pulling the siblings' elbows gently until they followed him out of the room. Aziza was suddenly in her Soul Room, eavesdropping. They went into the hallway and Sirius cast a spell before turning to Ron. "Remus would be much better at this than me," he chuckled before his face lost its amusement. "You're not going with them."

"Ha!"

Ron's ears turned red. "What gives you the right to make the decision? She's my sister!"

"And Aziza is the Pharaoh's sister. He won't let anything happen to her. Ginny can take care of herself, anyway."

Ron snarled wordlessly, but his ears lost their red color. "Fine. But be back for lunch."

"We'll be back when we're back."

Ron left in a huff.

"Well, now that that's settled," Sirius said. "Let's go finish breakfast."

* * *

It turned out they couldn't leave right away. Grandpa had some booster packs and starter decks to unpack and set up in the store. Everyone decided to help, which was good on two fronts: Aziza and Yami could lean against the counter and talk, as long as neither Yugi nor Ginny walked more than thirty feet from them; and Grandpa started explaining Duel Monsters, which meant Ron was preoccupied with the idea of learning a new strategy game and didn't have the time to glance over at Ginny every minute or so. Ginny had never let Ron know about her deck; it was something only she had, no one else in her family, and she had wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. Now, Ron was probably going to try to build his own deck and learn the game. Ginny found that she didn't mind as much as she thought she would.

With everyone helping, it didn't take more than an hour. Ginny put the last few booster packs on the display before stretching. She made sure her wand and deck were both secure in her pockets then walked over to Yugi, who was waiting by the door.

_Ready? _She asked Aziza, who was still talking to Yami about something. Immediately, Aziza and Yami took control and left the store, continuing the conversation.

"Yugi had me thinking we were going to duel someone. Instead, he set me up on a date with Téa." Yami grimaced as he recalled the incident.

Aziza laughed. If Mana ever heard about this, she would probably turn Téa into a plant. "So what did you do all day?"

Her brother shrugged lightly. "We went to the arcade. Téa competed against this dancer who liked to cheat when things weren't going his way. She beat him. Then he challenged her to a rematch and we ended up in a duel. He forfeited the match."

"Not surprised. Cheaters never prosper, and all that."

They summoned Gaia to keep an eye over the shop and everyone inside, even though they didn't see any monsters wreaking havoc. They seemed to have disappeared. Her brother spent the walk downtown explaining all that had occurred during the Battle City tournament.

"Marik was possessed by an evil spirit?" Aziza frowned in sympathy.

"Not quite. It was more of a darker piece of his soul. It grew strong enough to manipulate him and nearly sent his good half to the Shadow Realm. He managed to fight it long enough to surrender our duel and send it to the Shadow Realm instead."

She shook her head. "And I thought Ginny had an exciting life."

_I do, _Ginny said.

They walked past several stores, finally choosing to check out a movie store.

"So, other than fleeing from a madman, what do you normally do?" her brother asked as they browsed through the movies.

"I usually stay in the Earrings most of the time, since Ginny attends Hogwarts. Most of the staff and students can see me, which is a pain. But Ginny and I have reached an agreement. I take control during the classes she hates, she keeps control most of the day, and when we both hate a class we switch off and on. I still make her do her own work, but I help her when she can't understand something."

Her brother chuckled. "I usually just watch Yugi and his friends. I only really come out during the tournaments and duels."

"And, since you duel so much, you spend half your time in Yugi's body," Aziza deduced. "Has he dueled on his own?"

"He's dueled for us before. We work together."

It sounded a lot like her and Ginny, but Yami (it seemed weird calling him that) seemed more reserved. "We don't have much chance to duel. We've gone against some of the Muggleborns who play, but either they're not very good or they don't really know how to play."

"Muggleborns?"

"Yeah. There are three types of wizard: Muggleborns, whose parents don't have magic. They're generally the first in their family to have it. The half-bloods are kids of either a Muggle and a wizard, a Muggleborn and another wizard, or if at least one parent is a half-blood themselves." She laughed at the look of concentration on his face. "I know, it can get a little confusing. The purebloods, like Ginny and Ron, have no known Muggles in their family tree. They're all inter-related somehow. Most purebloods are stuck up brats who believe they're better than everyone else just because they haven't 'mingled with the Mudbloods'."

Yami's fists clenched. Aziza knew exactly how he felt. After the Dementor incident on the train before Ginny's second year, Aziza overheard Parkinson taunting a first year, saying he wouldn't be Sorted because he was a worthless Mudblood. Aziza had shoved Ginny into her Soul Room and marched over, standing between the bitch and the first year. She wanted to send her to the Shadow Realm, but Ginny managed to talk her down.

"It's absurd. If they hadn't married Muggles and Muggleborns, wizards would be extinct. The purebloods that are left are actually inbreeding now. Plus, some Muggleborns are actually more accomplished than purebloods."

"But Ginny and Ron aren't like that."

Aziza shook her head. "No. Arthur, their dad, is obsessed with how Muggle items work. He finds Muggles fascinating. The Weasleys have been labeled 'blood traitors' because they associate with people like Hermione."

"Muggleborn?" Yami guessed.

Aziza nodded. "You've got it. She's also one of the smartest people in Hogwarts history." A movie caught her eye. She held it up. "Is this any good?"

Yami took the movie and laughed. "_Raiders of the Lost Ark _wouldn't be my first choice. Joey made Yugi watch it once. It was good, but _Star Wars _was much better."

"You've got time to watch movies?"

"Like I said, Yugi watched them. I just happened to watch them with him."

Aziza giggled, putting the movie back. "Whatever you say, brother."

It just slipped out. Aziza froze, watching Yami's reaction. He merely smiled. She inwardly sighed with relief. This wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

"So you've never actually dueled with a Duel Disk?" he asked. It took her a second to remember where that subject had come from.

"Oh! No, I haven't. A few of Ginny's brothers bought us a deck a couple of years ago, which I'm lucky to have at all."

"How many brothers does Ginny have?"

"Six. Bill's the eldest, then Charlie, Percy—who disowned his family over the summer, so if you wouldn't mind not bringing him up, that'd be great—then the twins, Fred and George, and Ron."

"Why did Percy disown his family?"

Aziza made sure the link on her end was in a mental stranglehold so that Ginny wouldn't catch wind of the conversation. "It was stupid. You see, the Ministry of Magic in England refuses to believe Voldemort is back, even though Harry saw him come back, and most of the Weasleys and several other people believe Harry. Percy believed the Ministry and they promoted him to get him to spy on the family. Percy's very ambitious. He had to choose a side, and he picked the Minisrty."

"It sounds like Percy and Kaiba would get along well," Yami finally said dryly.

Aziza nodded, releasing her death grip on the link. "See anything good?"

Yami shook his head and they left the store.

* * *

_**What kind of world do they live in? **_Yugi wondered, appalled.

_**One similar to ours, Yugi. The prejudices are different, as are the way they operate, but both worlds are alike in so many ways. War, bigotry, school, work, family, friends and rivalry all exist no matter where you look. And then there will always be people who refuse to believe what is right in front of them. **_

It took a very special kind of person to learn how to get along with numerous cultures, especially when your culture was hiding from others. Yami was proud that Aziza and her friends were making the effort to live as Moogles.

Yugi laughed. _**Muggles, Yami. Non-magic people are called Muggles, not Moogles. **_

_**Ah, yes. I knew that.**_

Yami held the door open for Aziza as they walked into the empty arcade. He figured that once people realized the monsters weren't around anymore, they would leave the safety of their homes. They hadn't seen that many people, even though Kaiba and Pegasus had both issued press releases to reassure the public. So far, the monsters seemed confined to Japan.

"So, when we get back to the Game Shop, would you be interested in a duel?"

"Sure!" Aziza said immediately. "You might have to remind me of a few of the rules, but it'll be fun." She drifted over to the air hockey table. "What's this?"

"Air hockey. You try to get the puck in your opponent's goal while preventing them from scoring."

"Oh. Too easy." She turned her back on the game. Yami had a feeling she was messing with him, but his competitive side stirred. She thought he would be easy to beat? He would have to prove her wrong.

"Really?" He put some money into the machine and held up a paddle. "Then you wouldn't mind proving it?"

Aziza turned, meeting his smirk with a sly smile of her own. "Bring it on. I learned from the best, after all."

The game went on for twenty minutes. Yami won.

_**Barely! **_

_**It was close, **_Yami conceded, _**but I still won. **_

"Good game," he congratulated his sister. He felt a little odd calling her that, even if it was in his mind, yet at the same time it felt natural.

"Yeah, yeah. You're just pleased you won," she complained good-naturedly.

"I would still congratulate you even if I lost," he told her.

"I know." She pulled him into a hug, arms wrapped around his neck. She didn't have to stretch up, since they were actually the same height. He froze. He wasn't one for displays of affection like hugs. Claps on the shoulder, he could handle. In fact, he preferred those. He had been on the receiving end of Téa's hugs before, but he quickly left Yugi to deal with those.

Luckily, Aziza seemed to realize that he wasn't used to hugs as she pulled away almost immediately.

"Thanks," she whispered.

That one word conveyed so much. What did one say to that?

So, as he followed Aziza to the next game she picked out, he said nothing.

* * *

Harry leaned forward to listen to Mr. Muto's explanation of how the different cards worked. The basics of it seemed simple enough, but there were so many extra rules you had to keep track of. Ron followed it easily, asking questions about the different types of spell cards. Quick-Plays, Counters, Equip Cards…it made Harry's head hurt. Sirius looked intrigued by the game. Hermione had already given up trying to follow the rules. She was currently in the kitchen reading.

Strategy was definitely more Ron's thing than Harry's or even Hermione's, but he realized something that made the game more interesting.

"So, it's also a game of chance?" he asked, interrupting Ron.

Mr. Muto chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. But I believe in the Heart of the Cards."

"The Heart of the Cards?" the wizards parroted.

"If you believe in your deck, it'll come through for you. Each card is special, and deserves to be treated as such."

Harry nodded, understanding. Ron fired off a few more questions rapidly, and Mr. Muto went back to explaining the finer details of the game. Harry went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Hermione looked up from her book when he came in. "Having fun?"

Harry chuckled, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard. "I get the basics, but there are so many types of cards that it just gets confusing after a while. It's almost as bad as chess."

"At least duels can change on the turn of a dime," Hermione sighed. "You have to plan all of your moves ahead of time in chess."

Harry poured his water and turned to her, raising his eyebrows as he took in the title of her book. "Hermione, you know that we're in hiding. Technically that means we get out of homework. Besides, it's Binns' class. He won't even notice we're gone."

She scowled at him. "It's not homework. I'm looking up anything at all about Ancient Egyptian wizards, to see if they had anything in here about the Items or the monsters, but this book only goes back as far as Khufu's reign about 4600 years ago. That leaves at least four hundred years missing from this book." She slammed it shut. Her arms crossed over the cover and she laid her head down on it.

"Khufu?" Harry had heard that name before, he just couldn't place it.

"Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, he built the Great Pyramid of Egypt."

"Oh." Harry sipped his water. "Well, Ishizu and Marik are in Egypt right now. Bill will probably down there helping them. You could try calling them."

That caught Hermione's attention. Her head popped up off her book. "Bill works for Gringotts," she said, confused. "Why would he be helping the Ishtars?"

"Actually, Bill now works for Ishizu and Marik at their bookshop in Egypt. He must have taken some time off, but he said he was going back tomorrow."

"Why does he work for them?"

"Well, apparently, you have to get permission from the tomb keepers to enter tombs and start taking stuff."

Hermione looked horrified. "But that means—"

Harry's scar started to irritate him. He put his glass on the counter and rubbed it. Hermione noticed this.

"Harry?"

"It's fine. I guess Voldemort's just irritated or something."

She looked at him dubiously. "If it gets worse, you have to tell either Ron or Sirius or myself. No excuses, Harry," she added, seeing him about to protest. "If you just blow it off, something bad could happen."

As if agreeing with her words, Harry's scar felt like it burst into flames and he suddenly wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

* * *

Yami looked at the clock on the wall after they finished the last game. They had kept a tally to see who won most games. He was in the lead, seven to three. "It's almost lunch time. Do you want to go anywhere?"

Aziza shrugged. "Is there anywhere good around, or do you want to go back to the Game Shop?"

Yami looked at the wall blankly for a second before he chuckled. "Yugi wants to go to Burger World. It's just a few blocks from here."

"Sounds good," Aziza agreed, feeling Ginny grin in her Soul Room.

They left the arcade. Yami looked around, frowning. Aziza glanced around to see what had him worried. She didn't see anything, even after looking up at the sky and the buildings. "What is it?"

"The monsters are gone."

"They have been for a while," she reminded him before correcting herself. No, they had been in hiding earlier. She would still catch a glimpse of a wing or a tail here and there, but now it was as if the entire monster population had up and vanished in the last few hours.

_Where did they all go? _Ginny asked cautiously.

Aziza got goosebumps. _I have no idea, but I wonder if it has anything to do with why Ishizu and Marik took off yesterday._

_Maybe it has something to do with the darkness Bakura mentioned._

_Or both,_ Aziza finished ominously. She turned to Yami, who was probably having a similar conversation with Yugi. "I guess we'll have to cut the day short."

"Yes," he said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Aziza's Bracelet glowed. "Maybe we can find out what's going on." She pulled him over to the side, so they wouldn't be in the way of what little foot traffic there was and had him stand in front of her. "Put your fingers on an Earring."

Yami looked at her with an eyebrow raised, but lightly gripped her left Earring between his fingers. She held the Bracelet between them and fingered the second Earring. "Let us see. Let us hear."

* * *

Voldemort sat in the high backed chair, one finger petting his snake's head slowly. Nagini hissed in pleasure. Malfoy knelt in front of him, still as a statue. Several other Death Eaters stood around them . Snape hugged the shadows.

"You mean to tell me that several of my most trusted followers just disappeared, telling no one where they went?" his high pitched voice asked smoothly.

Malfoy nodded once, tersely. "That is correct, My Lord."

Voldemort nodded. Hopeless. If he didn't need Malfoy, the blond would be dead where he knelt. Maybe as a treat for his snake.

"And Potter and the Weasley girl have disappeared as well?" Voldemort looked to Severus.

"Yes, my Lord. They were called to Headquarters because of the attack on Arthur Weasley. By the time I was able to reach them, the Order had already sent them into hiding. Only Dumbledore knows where."

Voldemort reached into his robes, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Malfoy. "_Crucio_."

Malfoy screamed as invisible daggers pierced every inch of his skin. Voldemort reveled in the sound before turning his wand on Snape, letting the spy feel his displeasure next.

His bait and his most faithful servants were gone. He had nothing.

"Is there any other unfortunate news you have for me?" he hissed venomously, lifting his wand and ending the spell.

"Monsters have been seen all across Europe and Asia, my Lord." Malfoy's voice trembled. "Our magic seems ineffective against them."

Voldemort narrowed blood red eyes. Perhaps he could use these monsters to his advantage. If he was unable to find Potter and the Weasley traitor's youngest child, he would have to retrieve the prophecy himself. That would mean revealing himself before he was ready, unless the monsters provided a distraction.

"Capture one of these monsters and bring it to me," he ordered. "And try to find Potter, Weasley, and my Death Eaters."

The Death Eaters vanished instantly.

* * *

**Good? Bad? Confusing?**


End file.
